The Son Of The Huntress
by percabeth2death
Summary: A broken vow. A Crip. And a long kept secret. When these things come together, Raven finds himself at Camp Half-Blood. Soon, the gods are being kidnapped. Now everyone points to Raven, will he step up to the challenge, or will the blinding rage that he feels towards a mother who was never there for him stand in his way? Only time will tell. Rated M for drugs and language.
1. Chapter 1: The boy with silver eyes

**Hey guys, what good. If you are reading this then that means you found me. BTW, if you haven't read my first story, go to and type percabeth the seven go to good high school and click the one that is written by me (percabeth2death) now, I moved here because I liked the way it was laid out. So, this story is a continuance of the first one. I know the first one kind of sucked, but I needed a kickoff into this one. (BTW, I got an email from someone complaining at me saying that I was a homophobe because this was set after blood of Olympus and Nico admitted to being gay in the house of Hades. Sorry I forgot, I have nothing against gays, I have a gay friend but it's too late for me to change it) anyways I know the first one sucked a little, but this one is going to be much better. I have a legit plan laid out for this story. So ladies and gentleman, I proudly bring to you, The son of the Huntress**

**(A/N I will switch POV's several times throughout each chapter)**

Chapter 1: The boy with silver eyes

Annabeth:

"I love you, Wise Girl." Percy said holding me closer to him

"I love you too, Seaweed brain." I sighed leaning into him

School had been out for a few weeks and Percy and I had spent nearly every single second of it together. Even when Percy went out on a quest to find a demigod that one of the satyrs had tracked down, I insisted upon going. We had not been separated since prom. And I wouldn't have it any other way.

"Annabeth, I need to ask you something." He said, suddenly deadly serious

This worried me, because Percy was never serious, ever. He always messed around, and never did anything the way he was supposed to. He was a seaweed brain. But he was my seaweed brain.

"Sure." I said cautiously

"I've been having these dreams," He began "About a boy, with silver eyes. And he comes to the camp, and then things start to go wrong, the gods go missing, like captured, your mom spoke to me the first time I had the dream, she said someone named _O Katastrofeas_ was rising, that he had escaped from his prison in Tartarus."

"The Destroyer." I translated

He nodded

"And I think this boy with silver eyes and The Destroyer are some how connected."

"I've never heard of anyone called The Destroyer." I said stumped, I hated not knowing things

He looked thoughtful, as if going through all the Greek myths that he had ever heard and trying to remember someone named The Destroyer.

"I don't know," He said shaking his head "But, I'm sure we'll figure it out, and we'll kick some mythological monsters ass and save the universe like we always do."

That made me laugh. Percy had a point, we had saved Olympus four times now. The time we retrieved Zeus's master bolt so that the Olympians wouldn't go into a full all out war. And the time that we saved Artemis and the Orophiotaurus from the Titans. And the time we faced down the army of Kronos in the middle of Manhattan with only forty demigods. And, finally, and the most recent, the time we stopped Gaea and her bloodthirsty giants from destroying the world as we knew it. Yep all in all, a normal day for a demigod.

"You're right, Seaweed brain," I said "I'll pray to mom later just to be on the safe side. And maybe we should tell Chiron about all of this too."

"Already did, and he said he didn't know, but he seemed like he was hiding something." Percy said glumly

Chiron hid things from us a lot. Mostly because he was sworn to the river styx not to tell us. It got on my nerves sometimes. But this time, I had this feeling that maybe we didn't actually want to know who The Destroyer was.

"Well, don't worry about it, I would rather not be part of another great prophecy thank you very much." I said folding my arms and huffing

Now it was Percy's turn to laugh. I loved his laugh. It made me feel warm inside.

"Is that Gwen and Nico?" Percy said suddenly, eyeing off in the distance

Gwen was Nico's girlfriend. We had found Gwen when we had gone to Goode and she had turned out to be a daughter of Athena. Well, actually, it was Nico that found her, He brought her to our lunch table. She was really beautiful. And we all gave Nico a hard time because we knew that he liked her. Eventually, he asked her to the prom, and she accepted. I watched across the gym as they kissed. It was really cute. I was happy for Nico too, he was always depressed and sad and lonely. Ever since Gwen, well he was much happier. Even from this distance I could see the smile on his face as they approached hand in hand.

"Hey, how's it going.?" Gwen asked as she drew closer

"It's going." Percy said

"Shit, Percy, you'd think you would be in a better mood given the circumstances." Nico said grinning

We all knew what he was talking about, Percy's mom had just won the lottery. A scratch off ticket worth five million some dollars.

"Oh don't get me wrong, I'm fucking ecstatic," Percy said "It's just that some people don't realize how much hassle comes with winning that much money, phone calls, people showing up at our door step trying to sell stuff because they know we have the money."

"Right, well, the reason we came down here," Gwen said cutting Nico off as he was about to make a, no doubt smartass, reply "Chiron called a meeting in the big house. Every single camp counselor. Clovis even dragged his lazy ass out of bed for this."

Clovis was the head counselor for the Hypnos cabin. The god of sleep. And that's all his children did, sleep.

"Well, we had better not keep him waiting then." I said rising

Percy looked slightly reluctant to leave, but he rose too. We began the walk to the big house together.

"Any idea what this could be about?" Percy asked Nico

"Not a clue, but he looked pretty shaken up, so whatever it is, it can't be good." Nico said grimly

"Is it ever?" Percy said, exasperated

He had a point, I couldn't even remember what it was like to get good news.

"Well, like I said, I don't know, it could be anything, maybe I just read him wrong." Nico said, but he didn't sound to sure

We had arrived at the big house. Gwen gave Nico a quick kiss before dashing off.

"You'll have to tell me what it's about seeing as I'm not a counselor so therefor not invited." Gwen yelled over her shoulder.

We entered the big house and all eyes immediately turned to us.

"Ah, glad you could join us, we were just about to start." Chiron said from the front of the ping pong table.

He was compacted into his wheelchair and he looked worried. There was a tension in the air, as if he had started to reveal some bad news and then stopped suddenly.

"Now, I am not going to beat around the bush," He began " I'm not going to sugarcoat it, but we are in deep, deep trouble. Something of the likes that I have never witnessed, nor cared to witness. We are-"

"Chiron," I interrupted "You're beating around the bush."

He sighed

"So I am, well then straight to it, One of the gods has been kidnapped."

There was immediate murmuring and a buzz that filled the room. Chiron called for quiet but it was useless. He might as well have tried to stop fish from swimming. It probably would've yielded better results.

"What did he just say?" Piper said from behind me

"A god has been captured." I said still in disbelief

Piper paled. She looked almost haunted.

"Right, just checking to make sure I heard that right."

When it had finally settled down, Chiron cleared his throat again.

"The god, in question, or rather goddess, that has been captured is-" He stopped

Everyone leaned forward in anticipation. Chiron took a deep breath.

"The goddess that has been captured is the wisdom goddess Athena." He said

All eyes in the room turned to look at me.

Amber:

"And then, we ran along the sides until we had him cornered, we kept pushing him back until he was forced to retreat into the ocean. Then he just left." Thalia said

"That's amazing," One of the newer girls said "that must've take a lot of guts to keep going after what he did."

"He killed a lot of hunters, and I mean a lot of hunters. The numbers sitting around this campfire, there was at least double this before-" She stopped and inhaled a shaky breath

"Orion killed nearly all of the hunters, by the time we pushed him back into the sea, we had a handful of hunters, maybe fifteen or sixteen." She said slowly

I was in awe, I had only been a hunter for about three or four months. I wouldn't have had the courage to keep going after something like that, Thalia had told me that was what being a hunter was all about, learning the courage to continue.

"Well, enough war stories," Thalia said rising "Tomorrow we leave for Camp Half-Blood."

This announcement was met with a few groans and a few cheers. The hunters weren't fond of boys, but since Thalia had become lieutenant, we had become more tolerant of them. Or so I had been told, like I said, I haven't been around that long.

Sorry, maybe I should tell you just a little bit about myself.

My name is Amber Adela. I am fifteen, or was. I don't know if you still have an age when you become immortal. I still felt fifteen, but I knew in three thousand years or so, I would still feel the same. I was claimed as a daughter of Aphrodite shortly after meeting Thalia at a football game. Thalia explained to me that they had been keeping a close eye on me for weeks because they thought I might be a demigod. At that point, I chose to become a hunter of Artemis, mostly because I had been hurt by too many boys to even think twice about swearing them off for all eternity. It was a pretty good deal.

"Adela, I need to see you." Thalia yelled across the camp

I rose and walked towards Thalia's tent. I wondered why she wanted to see me. I hadn't done anything wrong. I had cleaned my kills today, as I was supposed to. I took my two hour guard duty around the camp. And I had made sure my arrows and my bow were in good condition. So what could I have possibly done wrong now? I entered the tent to find Thalia sitting on the edge of her cot.

"So, how do you like being a hunter?" She asked smiling

This startled me. I had been here for a while and never been asked that question. It didn't make sense to me why I would be asked this late into it.

"I love it," I said "It's everything I've ever wanted, no commitments, no school, no boys."

"Like an eternal sleepover sometimes," Thalia grumbled "I've never been a girly girl much, I have to sneak away occasionally and get away from all of these giggly girls."

I laughed

"So what is it that you enjoy most?" She asked me

I thought, this was a really hard question. I loved everything about being a hunter. But one thing stuck out to me the most.

"No boys, no heartbreak." I finally answered

She nodded

"That's actually a pretty common reason among the hunters, but a beautiful girl like you, not into all of the boys throwing themselves at her feet, now that strange." She said with a grin

I smiled. I like Thalia. I really did. She was easy to be around and didn't push when I didn't want to talk about something.

"You don't wear make-up do you?" She asked

"No." I answered, taken aback

"That's what I thought, of course, when you're a daughter of Aphrodite, I guess beauty comes naturally." Thalia said thoughtfully

"I don't mean to be rude, but why did you call me in here?" I asked

"Ah shit, listen to me ramble on, I wanted to know about that dream you started to tell me about earlier." She said

"Well, someone is returning, some monster, but I have never heard of him." I said

Thalia nodded

"I have some experience with forgotten monsters, but do you remember his name, or any specific details about the dream."

"Yes," I said, almost a whisper now "A boy with silver eyes, and an arena looking place, With posts and chains. And there was two people chained up."

"Who?" Thalia pressed looking anxious now

"A blonde girl, with a leather jacket, and headphones around her neck," I said struggling to remember details now "And a goddess, Athena, I think."

"Anything else?" Thalia asked

"Yes, one last thing, a man, laughing, Athena called him something." I said

"What? What did she call him?"

"The Destroyer"

Percy:

After the meeting, I tried to head back to my cabin and sleep, but I couldn't. I kept tossing and turning. What could be so powerful enough to capture a goddess? Could it be this Destroyer guy? Or something else. I looked at my hand. Maybe it was time to call a friend. No, not yet. Not this way. But maybe…..

I grabbed a drachma off of my nightstand and walked over to the fountain in the corner of my room. A gift from my father to replace the one I broke. I threw it into the stream and spoke.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the rainbow accept my offering." I said

The fountain began to glow

"Show me Carter Kane in Brooklyn." I said

The image began to appear. Carter was sitting on a roof, with a girl. They were laughing. The girl was cute. She had black hair and a tan.

"Zia," Carter said "I have something I want to tell you."

"What is it?" The girl (Who I assumed to be Zia) asked

"I-" Carter stopped suddenly because he saw me out of the corner of his eye

"P-P-Percy," He stuttered "How did you get here?"

"Yeah bro, great to see you too," I mumbled "I'm not actually here, it's just an Iris Message, but I can check back later, looks like your busy."

"Uh, no it's fine" He said

"Carter who is this?" Zia asked with wide eyed

"Ah, shit, ummmmm," Carter stammered "Perce help me out here."

"Nah man, you're doing fine, you got this." I said grinning

"Just help me out you dick." Carter said not returning my grin

So we told the story of how we met. And what we did. And then he tried explaining to his angry girlfriend why he hid this from her.

"Sadie got on me for not telling her about you, apparently her and some girl named Annabeth met up, she had a pretty similar story to your's, I talked her into keeping it a secret."

"Annabeth never told me about that." I said

"Wait, so you do know Annabeth." He said

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend." I told him rolling my eyes

"Of course she is," Carter said "So why exactly did you ummmm Iris Message me?"

"Well it's kind of a long story, and I was hoping that you could help me figure it out." I told him

"Fire away." He said

And so I told him about my dream. I told him about everything. Carter seemed to understand that dreams for demigods were not just dreams. In fact, not only did he understand it, it seemed like he went through the same stuff. When I got to the part about Athena missing he stopped me.

"Sadie said she felt a disturbance a few days ago, and she went to investigate, she never came back," He said "Do you think this Destroyer guy is behind it all?"

"That's exactly what I think" I said

"Well, we need to get to the bottom of this quickly, I'll work on my end and you work on your's, when you've got something to share, hit me up on this thing again."

"Got it, and what if you need to get ahold of me?" I asked

"I've got my own ways." He said

Suddenly there was a knock outside my cabin.

"PERCY COME QUICK," My friend Grover's voice sounded from outside "THERE IS A DEMIGOD COMING ACROSS THE PROPERTY LINE AND HE'S GOT A MANTICORE HOT ON HIS HEELS"

"I have to go, Carter," I said "Happy hunting"

"You too." He said

I swept my hand through the image and disconnected it. I ripped opened the door and found Grover panting.

"What's happening?" I demanded

"Demigod….Manticore." He said gasping for air

I grabbed Riptide off of my dresser and made a dash for the door. I followed Grover across the camp. When we arrived at the hill I saw an unarmed demigod facing down a Manticore. He was wearing loose jeans that I notice he was sagging. Under that he wore a pair of white basketball shorts. He had on a pair of blue and red Jordans, a black t-shirt that read All For Glory in gold letterings on the front, and finally a solid blue hat with solid white lettering. I couldn't read it because of the fancy lettering. But, I had seen those hats before and I knew exactly what it said. Compton. A few demigods were attempting to approach the Manticore but the couldn't get too close. I was shocked at the bravery of the new kid. He stood his ground, he wasn't moving forward, but he refused to move back. As I got closer I realized he wasn't unarmed. He had a Ruger 45 in his left hand. He was bleeding from his right leg. He had a scar running from his forehead straight down through his left eye and stopping halfway down his cheek. He looked to be about fifteen. He was about five foot nine maybe. He was pretty muscular. He had brown shaggy hair. Long too. Almost as long as my hair. But not all the way down to his shoulders long.

"KID, BACK DOWN THAT THINGS GONNA KILL YOU!" I yelled at him as we drew closer.

The Manitcore snarled and in response the kid raised his gun and fired. The shot hit the Manticore in the chest. It would've been a kill if he had celestial bronze bullets. He seemed shocked that the Manticore hadn't dropped dead. And so he fired two more shots. Again, went straight through him. The kid tucked the gun back into his waistband and stood motionless.

"MOVE IDIOT!" One of the other demigods yelled

The Manticore flicked his tail and a spike flew at the kid. It struck him directly in his stomach. He sank to his knees. But, surprisingly, he didn't yell or anything. I couldn't believe it. If I had gotten hit like that, I wouldn't have stayed quiet.

"GET AN ARCHER UP HERE!" I shouted

Suddenly the kid rose to his feet and ripped the Manticore thorn out of his stomach.

"LET'S GO MOTHERFUCKER!" He screamed

And then he charged the Manticore. It threw a few more spikes but the kid jumped and ducked all of them. The Manticore was getting frustrated as the kid advance. When he was about five feet out. The Manticore flicked his tail forward again. The kid moved at the last second and the grabbed his tail. The Manticore tried to flick his tail back, but the kid was gripping it tightly. With enough momentum to do so, he let go of the tail and flew right into the Manticore. He yelled as he plunged the spike that he had ripped from his stomach into the Manticore's neck. It screamed and dissolved as the kid fell off of it. By now Annabeth had arrived and was moving in to get the kid. Whoever this crazy kid was, what he had just done earned him my permanent respect.

I ran forward to help. But I stopped suddenly when I got close enough to look him in the eyes.

"Oh shit." He coughed spitting up blood

Then he fell and passed out. Blood was gushing from the wound on his stomach. I could see through he giant hole in his shirt. His wound was a sickly green.

"Percy, don't just stand there help me," Annabeth screamed "What's wrong with you?"

"His eyes, Annabeth did you see his eyes?" I asked panicking

"No, what about them?" She demanded

"His eyes were silver."

**OHHHH! Sorry about the cliff hanger but this is kinda long. Plus it's really later where I live. Also it's a school night. I made up The Destroyer for everyone who is getting ready to throw a big fit about him being in the story and not being a real monster. Also I am combining the Kane chronicles and The Percy Jackson series into this one. I have read the son of Sobek but I haven't read the Staff of Serapis. So sorry if some stuff from that is a little bit off. Untill next time dear friends**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON AND THE OLYMPIONS OR THE KANE CHRONICLES OR THE HEROES OF OLYMPUS**


	2. Chapter 2: The broken oath

**Howdy yall. Welcome back. This is chapter two of The Son Of The Huntress. Please review and let me know how you like this chapter vs the first chapter. I'm just gonna jump right into this because there isn't really much that I can say. So here is chapter two yall.**

Chapter 2: The broken oath

Raven:

My head hurt. So did my stomach. And my legs. Fuck, my whole body hurts. I opened my eyes, expecting to just be waking up from a bad dream. I was expecting to see my usual room. A mattress on the floor, in an old run down house. Surrounded by guns, empty bullet casings, bongs, papers, drugs, and maybe a few girls as the guys walked around doing normal trap house business. What I got was completely different. I was in an actual bed. The sun was shining through the windows. Where was I? Then it all came crashing down. The guy on the street, turned out to be some sort of weird monster with a tail and thorns. Running, being drawn into this strawberry field for some reason. Then I was running by a tree and next thing I know, there all these kids in armor surrounding us. And this kid with black hair, probably the leader seeing as everyone was kind of looking to him, was yelling at me to back down. But this thing was starting to piss me off, whatever it was. So I just jumped and attacked it, and I killed it. I don't have any clue how I did what I did. I should be dead. What confused me most was the fact that when I shot him, my bullets just passed right through him. My gun was useless.

_Shit, my gun_ I thought frantically as I reached into my waistband

It was still there. Thank God. I don't know what I would do if I lost it. Sometimes having it just reminded me that I was still real, that all the bullshit that I'd been through wasn't for no reason. I had been a gang member since I was ten. I had shot and killed people before. The first time, when I was twelve. Most recently, last week. And I had never cared weather I lived or died. I guess that's what made me so crazy, I just don't care. Still, the things that I had done, it's a lot to place on someone. I got out of the bed and sat up. My head was throbbing but I had to figure out what was going on. I stood and my body ached all over. I was never one to complain about pain, I had been shot before, and hadn't uttered a single sound as they dug the bullets out. But this was different, it was like I had been shot all over. And it was also like I was still being shot, it hurt. I moved out the door and began walking. As I went, I thought about that girl that had picked me up last night. Blonde hair and grey eyes. Not like mine though, hers were grey, mine were silver. They shone sometimes. And the black haired kid. He had green eyes. He had looked at me like he had seen me before. That was something else that I was going to figure out.

"What is this place?" I muttered silently as I walked

There were kids running all around carrying swords and knives and all kinds of things. One short kid with curly hair was lighting fires in a forge with his hands! And a tall Asian kid was transforming into different animals for the amusement of a girl next to him. She was short with dark hair and dark skin. She was pretty. No doubt Free would've-

_No, don't think about Free or Money._ I chided myself

I kept on moving and finally came within view of a big house. Two stories. Looked like a typical prairie house. On the porch stood four figures. A man on a horse, A kid with upturned eyebrows and a mischievous grin, the blonde haired girl from the night before, and the black haired kid. Amazing, I could make out their features. I realized I was nearly a hundred yards away. As I drew closer, the guy on the horse nodded in my direction. And the other three kids turned. All four of them had eyes wide with shock as I limped towards them. When I got within about ten feet, I realized the guy on the horse wasn't actually on the horse. He was the horse. This place just gets weirder and weirder.

"Hey man, what are you doing?" The kid with the upturned eyebrows said coming towards me as I got onto the porch "You should be resting you got rocked pretty-"

He stopped as I slammed him into the post on the railing and pointed my gun at his head.

"Don't think that I'm above putting your brains all over this porch, now tell me where the hell I am so that I can get out." I growled

I took my gun away from his head and shoved him back towards the the horse man.

"Chill kid, we're here to help you." The black haired kid said

"I'm Annabeth," The blonde girl said soothingly "This is Percy, Travis, and Chiron."

She indicated to them all as she said their names.

"Do you know your name?" She asked me

"Yeah, of course," I said startled "Why wouldn't I remember my own name?"

"Well we've had stranger cases, plus, like Travis started to say you got rocked pretty hard last night." Annabeth said smiling sweetly

"So, what is your name?" Percy said slowly

"Raven." I answered

Chiron cleared his throat.

"Do you have a last name?" He asked

"No," I answered quietly "My dad never gave a shit about me, he killed my mother and went to jail when I was five, I've been in a gang since I was ten and I never had a real name and everyone just started calling me Raven, pretty soon, it just became my actual name."

"I see." Was all he said in response

"Where am I? What is this place? Who are you people?" I asked

"Well," Travis began "You're at Camp Half-Blood, the safest place ,besides Camp Jupiter and Olympus itself of course, for demigods."

"Demigods?" I said confused

"Yes, have you ever heard the Greek myths?" Percy asked me

"I know of them, but I've never heard any." I told him

"Well, the gods are alive, and they move around with the fire of the west as we call it. And right now, that fire is in America," Annabeth said "And sometimes the gods come down and have children with mortals, and they come here to train."

"Train for what?"

"Whatever comes along, wars, skirmishes, quests, or just training to survive in the world long enough to die of natural causes." She said shrugging

"No offense, but do we have the same view of natural causes?" I asked "Where I come from, natural causes is getting shot by either other gang members or police."

"Well, here, natural is pretty nasty too." Percy said

"It doesn't matter," Annabeth said "The point is, the gods are alive and you're a child of one of them."

I could've said anything. Anything in the world. So I stuck with-

"That's bullshit."

Annabeth laughed

"I'm not kidding, you said you're dad was mortal?"

"Yeah, I've never met my mother though." I told her

"We all went through the same thing, I didn't believe it either." Percy said grimly as if remembering when he first found out he was a demigod

"I don't believe this, it's crazy." I said leaning against the railing.

"Water boy's girlfriend is telling you the truth." Travis said

Water boy's girlfriend huh? Well, there goes that. Oh well, I'm sure there is plenty of other pretty girls for me around here.

I shook my head

"I still don't believe it."

"Raven, I swear on the river styx that I'm telling the truth," Annabeth said "your mother is a goddess and you are a demigod."

I'm not sure why, but for some reason, I found myself believing what she said. I mean, it made sense. That thorn thing, for starters. And how was I doing flips all over the place. It was almost like a little voice was inside my head telling me exactly what to do.

"I'm going to guess that you're ADHD and maybe dyslexic too, most of us are, we can't read English very well, but Greek, now that we can do." Percy said

"Yeah ADHD and dyslexic." I said eying him wearily

"It kept you alive last night against that Manticore. And by the way, whatever you did last night was badass," He said with a grin "I think we need a Manticore fighting class and have you teach us all how to do that."

"Thanks, but I don't even know what I did, I just went with the moment, I didn't know what I was doing." I told him not returning his grin

"Well, I think that maybe a tour is in order." Chiron said clapping his hands together

"Yeah, I really don't think the orientation film is going to cover all of the questions that are probably running through his mind right now." Annabeth said

"Percy, give him the tour and then get him set up in the Hermes cabin until he is claimed," Chiron said "Annabeth, I wish to speak with you further on this dream."

"Wait, you had the dream too?" Percy said

"Yeah, last night." Annabeth said

"Why when I brought it to you, you refused to talk to me about it, but she brings it to you and all of the sudden it's big freaking news and we need to make a big deal out of it?" Percy demanded angrily

"Percy, I told you, I needed to be sure that this wasn't just your dream." Chiron said

With that he turned and left. Annabeth kissed Percy and slipped in behind Chiron.

"Come on, Raven," Percy said "And you might want to tuck that gun back into your pants, can't have the campers thinking you're taking me hostage or something."

I couldn't tell if he was being serious but I tucked my Ruger and followed him back into the camp.

Percy:

Raven didn't say much as we walked. He didn't even seem to be paying attention. His silver eyes scared me a little bit. They had flared with anger when he had put that gun to Travis's head. His eyes held so much anger and betrayal. And sadness and loss. I could tell, just by making eye contact with him, that he had been through more than most demigods had been through. He had been through more than most kids should ever have to go through. His eyes weren't like Annabeth's, they weren't grey. They were legitly silver.

"First things first," I told him "Come to my cabin and I'll lend you one of my shirts seeing as yours is kind of shredded."

"Fucking Manticore owes me a new shirt," He grumbled "This was one of my favorite shirts."

I laughed

"Yeah, I've lost quite a few of my favorite clothes to monsters before." I told him

We arrived at my cabin. As we stepped in, I saw Raven take a quick look around.

"Feel anything?" I asked him

"Like what?"

"Well, the first time I came in here, before we knew I was a son of Poseidon, I felt this weird sensation, I'm not sure how to explain it, I don't know if all demigods feel it." I said

"I don't feel anything different." He said shaking his head

"Here, this should fit you, you're not as big as me, but you are pretty close so the shirt should fit you just fine." I said tossing him a plain white t-shirt

He removed his black All For Glory t-shirt and threw it into the trash. I noticed two marks that had been covered when he was wearing his other shirt.

"Is this how you got your name?" I asked pointing to the raven shaped brand mark on his left shoulder blade

"Yeah, I don't know how it got there, but that's why they call me Raven." He said

"And the scar on your arm?" I said indicating to the one on his left bicep

Just three letters FJC

"It stands for Flat Junction Crips, remember me telling you that I was in a gang?" He asked

I nodded

"Well, I'm not old enough to get a tattoo, so I got FJC cut into my arm," He explained "They cut it pretty deep, I bled a lot, I was only eleven."

"What about the one on your eye." I asked

He touched his left eye gingerly as though it still hurt. It looked recent, It was deep, that much, I could tell.

"Got into a scrap with some Bloods last year, one of them had a blade, he didn't cut deep enough to damage my eyesight, but deep enough to leave a scar." He said shakily

He reached into the pocket of his jeans. I don't know why, but it was just then, that I realized how tan he was. He was white for sure, but he had a good tan. Deeper than Annabeth's. He took his hand out and he was clutching a photograph.

He stared at it. I could see it from where I was standing. It was a picture of Raven standing in the middle. There was a black kid on his left, and a Hispanic kid on his right. They all had their arms around each other. They were standing in front of a blue 1969 El Camino. Each of them had their left hands up. All of their fingers were doing what you would do when making a fist except their pointer finger and thumb. Those were forming a C. I knew it was the Crips gang sign. They were all grinning from ear to ear. Raven didn't have a scar on his face. I noticed something else. On the black and Hispanic kids forehead was a small cross drawn onto the photo with a sharpie.

"This was a week before the fight that gave me this scar." Raven said

I noticed his voice was cracking.

"That cross-" I began

"It means that they're dead, they died last month, the black kid's name is Free and the Hispanic kid's name was Money, they had real names but we never called them by them." He said almost whispering now

"What happened?" I asked

"It was supposed to be a drug deal. And the boss said nothing would go wrong, he said the guys were old clients, and only a select few knew that the deal was even going down." He said

"And it didn't go down that way?" I asked

"It would've, but one of the guys that knew about it snitched. We pulled up and the cops came in a few minutes later," He said his voice was cracking for sure now "It was worth half a million dollars, and the cops got there, and the Albanians freaked out and started shooting and the cops fired back. By the end of it, All but one of the Albanians was dead. So was all of the Crips that came with us, including Money. Free and I didn't want to leave his body but we had to. We knew they would bring his body back once they figure who he was. So the three of us started running. We were almost to the car. And the Albanian got caught by one of the dogs, he told us to keep running, so we did."

He stopped and took a shaky breath. I was about to stop him but he started again.

"We got to the car and Free was driving. I was shooting. I thought we had shaken the cops. But a helicopter flew above us and lit the car up. I don't know how I didn't get hit, but Free took like five bullets to the chest. He died on the spot. So I ran, and I got back without getting caught. I laid low for a little while. I told the boss I was done with the gang. And he let me leave, I didn't think he would, usually you're in for life. I know who snitched and I also know that he left the gang right before I did. And when I find him, I'm gonna put two bullets in him, one for Free and one for Money."

He finished his story and took another shaky breath before putting the picture back into his pocket.

"I'm sorry." I told him

"It's fine, I've lost a few friends over the years, It's just, Free had a baby on the way. He got his girlfriend pregnant, and he didn't want his baby growing up the way he did. So the boss told him one last job and he was done. His girlfriend was devastated. She still is. She cried for days. I swore on my own life, to Free and Money's mothers that I was gonna find who did it and kill them. I also swore to Free's girlfriend." He said

"Hey, I know what it's like to lose friends, revenge won't bring them back, but I understand that sometimes you just have to do what has to be done." I told him

"Thanks man, listen, if I die, I don't want to be burned, I saw them getting ready to burn some of those cover things and I know there is bodies under them, feel free to burn a shroud for me, but I want my body buried next to Free and Money. There's a spot right in between them, it's laid out just like this picture, I want you to make sure that's where I'm buried if you outlive me." He said quietly

"I swear it on the river styx." I told him

"Thanks."

"No problem, now let's go take care of that tour huh? I bet you're dying to see the rest of the camp." I said

Annabeth:

Raven spent the next week in the Hermes cabin. We were confused because he should've been claimed on his first night. Since the night Raven showed up, three more god have been kidnapped. Demeter, Aphrodite, and Dionysus. People were starting to think that Raven was the reason why. But Rachel had delivered no prophecies of our great demise or anything of that sort. I'll admit, I was a little bit skeptical about Raven when I first met him. But he hasn't done anything to make me distrust him. He refused to get rid of his gun, so he paid someone from the Hephaestus cabin to make him eight celestial bronze bullets. He also had Leo helping him work on a sword for himself. He has tried all of the ones in the armory and claimed that none of them felt right. So Percy took some measurements and now they spent a lot of time inside Bunker nine. The three of them would be gone most of the day. Percy said he was there because he was the sword expert, Raven was there because he needed to be fitted and he wanted to learn how to fix it if it broke and make a new one if it was beyond repair, and Leo was there because he knew what he was doing and Raven and Percy didn't. It was hard to narrow down his parents. The Apollo kids had claimed him as their own because he was a crack shot, not only with a bow but with his gun as well. He could shoot it sideways, one handed, two handed, you name it. And he could hit dead center bulls eyes at up to four hundred yards. After that, he started to lose some accuracy but he hadn't missed a target yet. But that wasn't all. It was hard to narrow him down because he seemed to have just a little bit of all the gods in him. He fought with a sword with the ferociousness of Ares. He snuck around like a true son of the god of thieves (Seriously, dead quiet, even when he wasn't trying, he almost gave me a heart attack the other day coming so I could teach him Greek). He was a good swimmer, not as fast as Percy but still pretty close. He wasn't an expert plants, but he knew his way around them. He claimed it was his background as a gang banger they had to grow a lot of their own drugs. The only one he really seemed to lack was Aphrodite, which didn't seem to bother him much. I mean, he was good looking enough, not my type personality wise but he was, by today's standards, hot. He jjst didn't like to go around trying to make himself that way. He had a farmers tan in the shape of a wife beater on his chest, which drove the Aphrodite girls crazy, they wanted him to even out his 'perfect tan' so badly. He was muscular, and his scars and mysterious eyes seemed to draw a lot of the girls in the camp to him. They tried to get close to him, but he would shut them out. The only thing that threw me off was his silver eyes, none of the gods had silver eyes, at least, none of the ones that had children anyways. He had not once smiled or laughed since he had been here, I could see he had been through a lot but I couldn't quite tell what.

"Annabeth, will you come with me?" Raven said from behind me

I jumped, I had been so deep in my thoughts I hadn't heard him approach.

"Sorry, I'm trying to work on being slightly louder." He said

"No it's fine," I said "Uhh sure I've got a few minutes I think."

As we walked I could tell something was bothering him.

"What's wrong?" I asked him as we sat down in one of the benches outside the Artemis cabin.

"Is it that obvious?" He said raising his eyebrows

"Yeah, but you always look like something is bothering you." I said laughing

"That's because it usually is." He said not even cracking a smile

"So what's up?"

"I was just thinking," He began "Why am I still here? You guys said that I should've been claimed by the first night, but I'm still sitting in the Hermes cabin waiting for a mother to claim me who I thought was dead all of these years."

"Raven, we all felt like that," I told him "A few years ago, we only had eleven cabins, the twelve Olympians minus Hades. And after the Titan war, Percy made them swear to stop abandoning their kids, and then we added a cabin for Hades and then after that all of the other minor gods, Hecate, Nemesis, all of those guys."

"So what was the moral of all that?" He asked

"Well, before that, we fought the Titans with forty demigods before the Ares cabin came in a few days into the battles. And I mean hundreds of monsters against forty demigods. And the reason we had such a small amount was because most of the unclaimed demigods felt abandoned because their parents never claimed them." I said

"So it's a lot better now?" He asked

"Lots, look I bet you'll get claimed tonight." I said trying to boost his confidence

"I just keep thinking what if you guys messed up and I'm just a mortal that accidentally slipped through the barrier and-" He stopped and perked up

"What is it?" I asked

But he didn't answer, instead he got up and walked into the Artemis cabin.

"What are you doing, you aren't supposed to be in here." I hissed following him

"I feel something." He said

"What?" I asked confused

"Percy said he felt something different when he stepped into Poseidon's cabin for the very first time, he didn't know if all demigods felt it but-" He trailed off

"No, Artemis is an eternal maiden, we were just talking about our godly parents and you got excited and you're imagining this." I said

"Maybe you're right." He said sounding disappointed

The conch horn blew in the distance. Campfire time.

"Come on, let's got to the campfire, that'll clear your mind." I said

He nodded and we trudged down the hill together. I felt bad for Raven, he had wanted to believe that he felt something so badly. But Artemis was an eternal maiden, she would never have kids. And what would the hunters think of the sacred oath that they had taken if their own leader had broken it. No, I don't need to think about that because it won't ever happen.

We arrived at the campfire and I slipped off to sit next to Percy. Raven took a seat at the first available one he saw, unfortunately for him this was right next to Drew and several of her friends from the Aphrodite cabin. They cooed over him and tried to get him to talk to them or smile or anything. But he said something and Drew sat down looking dejected.

"What's wrong, Wise Girl?" Percy asked me

"Well, Raven told me something that you said to him about his godly parent, and he seemed to think-" I stopped because Chiron had pounded his hooves to get our attention.

"Heroes, what a day it has been. I am glad to say that all of the campers injured in the explosion during capture the flag today have been fully healed." He said

This was met with grumbles from the Ares cabin. Explosions and injuries seemed to be their specialty. And they hated it when people recovered.

"First, some things that must be said, Raven, it has come to my attention that the dryads have become offended by you smoking ahh marijuana by and or in the woods because they seem to think that you are burning a live plant." He said

"HE IS, I CAN ALMOST HEAR THE POOR THINGS SCREAMING IN PAIN!" One of the Dryads yelled from the crowd

"My bad, I'll find somewhere else to get stoned, this camp is plenty big." Raven said raising his hand and waving

Chiron looked surprised, no doubt he expected Raven to tell the Dryad's to get over it or at least defend himself in some way. Chiron shook it off quickly and continued.

"Right well, there is other news that concerns you so please stand." Chiron said calmly

Raven stood and cocked his head slightly.

"The Apollo cabin had negotiated to claim you as one of their own until Apollo has claimed you by himself, as they are quite sure you are a son of Apollo." He said

This was meant with a roar of applause from the Apollo cabin.

"Now one more thing, I understand that there are some-" He stopped abruptly and his eyes widened.

"What?" Raven said

Everyone followed Chiron's gaze to above Raven's head. And we weren't looking at the symbol of the sun god. Raven looked up to and swatted at it.

"What the fuck is that?" He said swatting at the symbol above his head

The whole camp sank to their knees. Percy went slowly, he was shocked the whole camp was. I knelt as well. Even all the Dryads and Naiads were kneeling. Eventually Chiron was the only one who was still standing. He Shakily went to his knees. Raven stood surrounded by thousands of kneeling demigods, satyrs, dryads, and naiads.

"I-it appears that we now know who your mother was, The Huntress, The lady of the moonlight" Chiron stuttered his eyes still wide at the impossibility of what we were seeing "H-hail Raven, Son of Artemis."

**Even though some of you probably saw that coming im just gonna say it. PLOT TWIST review and tell me if it was good**


	3. Chapter 3: Born to die, Bred to live

**Hey guys. welcome to the third chapter. I've been going late into the night for the past few days. Good news though, by the time you read this, I'll be on Christmas break, so I've got that to look forward to. I put the second chapter up before I even had any reads on this first chapter. But I'm gonna wait for a few reads. It was easier to get reads on wattpad. I posted the first chapter of my story and had like ten reads by morning. But, that story kind of sucked. I've messaged a few of the more popular writers to see if they can give me a shoutout in their stories as some publicity. Put a link on there or something. But anyways, so once I get a few reads I'm gonna post this, no sense in constantly updating if no one reads it. Don't get me wrong, I'll still updated and finish it just because, but I won't be in a big hurry if no one is reading. And one more thing: I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON, JASON GRACE, CARTER KANE, ZIA KANE (ha ha see what I did there?) ANNABETH ETC. But I do own Raven, he is my own creation, so is Free, Money, and several of the gang members, who you will meet later in the story. Including the guy who snitched on them at the drug deal. What will happen, will Raven really kill him, or will he realize his sanity is more important than his oath. Or maybe he thinks that revenge won't bring his friends back (yeah right, I would've shot the guy). In a way, I guess he makes him pay by letting him go and making him live with the fact he killed two people who were both someone's best friends, sons, and one of them was a future father. I really like this story because it brings out the darker side of reality. Most demigods came from broken homes, but Raven came from a shattered life. His father was arrested when Raven was five and charged with the murder of Raven's mother, who had been missing since a month after Raven had been born. Then, when Raven was eight, his father hung himself in jail because Raven refused to see him in jail, he didn't even go to the funeral because he had always been bred to hate his father. Then at ten he joined a gang. At twelve he killed someone, then continued to do so several times over the years. Then he lost his two best friends at fifteen. How's that for a broken home? Well, I' should shut up so yall can read. Annabeths and Percys (Hell yeah, damn I am on fire tonight) I give to you Chapter three of The Son Of The Huntress**

Chapter 3: Born to die, Bred to live

Artemis:

As I stared down at my son through the image in front of me a tear formed in my eye. I had felt his anger when he had found out his father had not killed his mother, but that he was wrongly accused. He had not hung himself, but I had broken my oath on the styx, and the fates had sent a monster after him. But the mortals had deemed it a suicide. And his anger had been directed at everything. But now, he knew exactly who to be angry at, and I felt every ounce of anger that Raven had suddenly redirect at me. If I had been at Camp Half-Blood rather than Olympus he might have attacked me whether I was his mother or not. But he was confused as well, as though still processing what had just happened.

"But," He said "Isn't Artemis like, an eternal virgin or some bullshit like that?"

"I would not speak of the goddess in such a way, but yes." Chiron answered as the campers all rose to their feet.

It had pained me to watch Raven grow up the way he did. I had wept when he killed that man many years ago. If only I had simply accepted the consequences of my actions he would not have grown up the way he did. By then it was too late. I had visited his father in the underworld and made sure he went to Elysium, then explained to him who I was. I had hoped that by not telling either of them anything, I would protect them, but I should've known that breaking my oath would not be avoided that easily. I had to claim my son though, It seemed with all the gods that have been going missing, I could be next, and if I was destroyed, I needed to at least try to let him know I cared enough. But now that he knew, the fates would do anything they could to end his life. If they killed him, then it would only serve me right for breaking my oath. I wished I had never made that oath to my father, even as I made it, I knew that some day I might break it. And that day had finally come.

"So he was yours then after all, I knew he wasn't mine, although my children seemed to think so, I don't think any of them realized that it was his father that was mortal." A voice said from behind me

I swept my hand through the image and turned around. My brother, Apollo, stood in the doorway of my shrine staring at me. For once, he wasn't grinning, or joking, or listening to music. He was completely serious.

"Brother, I do not know what I am to do, the fates will surely hound him." I said

"As they have all these years, sister," He said "And he has survived so far hasn't he, maybe we can convince Zeus to demand that the fates not hold you to the oath."

I shook my head. Raven would need to complete a majorly heroic deed. One that topped even the greatest preformed by Hercules, Perseus, Jason, and even greater than the ones most recent.

"He will be hounded untill they succeed, but Raven doesn't realize when he is beaten. I don't want to see my son go in a blaze of glory. It usually is accompanied by pain. And if they can, they will inflict as much pain upon him as possible, as my punishment for breaking the oath, no, it would be better for him to die silently." I said hanging my head

"Sister," Apollo said lifting my head "Raven will be a great hero, that much I can feel, I am the god of prophecy you know? And I don't want to see you hating yourself for putting a hero on this world that may very well save Olympus from complete destruction."

"I broke the oath, the fates won't give him a chance to become a great hero, Raven's fatal flaw is that he will die for love, and when the fates figure this out, the will find what he loves most and use it against him. He may be the first to fall to the fates, and be personally killed by them, nothing they send will work, but they can kill him themselves." I said tearing up again

Apollo hugged me.

"Artemis, I will make this right, I will convince father." He said

"It wont work." I said

"It just may." A voice said from the doorway

Poseidon stood in the doorway dressed in greek battle armor. His trident in hand.

"You remember Artemis, Percy was born to a broken oath, and he has survived." He said grimly

"Will you help us?" I asked

"I will do what I can, but in the meantime Zeus requires your presence in the throne room."

I was shocked. I knew my father had been informed by now, but I didn't think he would summon me this quick.

"Why?"

"Raven's trial, Zeus is going to decide whether he lives or dies, or rather, whether he is executed by the gods, or left to be slain by the fates." Poseidon said heavily

Raven:

After finding out that I was a son of Artemis, I immediately became angry. They moved my stuff from the Hermes cabin to the Artemis cabin. It wasn't the loneliness that got to me. I actually like being alone better than the crowded cabin of Hermes. But I hated being in this cabin. It felt kind of forbidden. I wondered whether or not the gods had police. Being born was just another law I had broken. All of my crimes, including ones I hadn't been caught for, vandalism, possession with intent to sell, murder, attempted murder, possession of a weapon, underage drinking, underage driving, theft, robbery, assault, and being born. If I was back in Brooklyn, that would be a pretty impressive resume, especially considering I had gotten away with most of them. But to the rest of the world, It would be better for everyone if I had just not been born. I wondered if I would be arrested by the Olympians. I also wondered if I would be able to hurt any of them with my gun. But something told me they would be prepared for that. I wondered if I would be given a trial, and then, would they charge me even with all the things I had done before becoming a demigod? Even if they didn't kill me for being born, I knew they had seen everything that I had done, and I would be looking at some serious time. And that was just assuming they even let me live. I took out the photo of me and Free and Money.

"Mom, if you're listening, I fucking hate you." I said sinking down onto the bed

I took out the bong that I had made out of some plastic bottles and loaded it full. I lit it and hit it as hard as I could. It burned, but it was a good burn. I blew the smoke out and a few hits later I was feeling the effects. I sat the bong down and took my gun out of my waistband.

_I could just end this whole thing right now. _I said staring at the gun

They had said Celestial bronze could kill me too. I didn't have to give the gods the satisfaction of killing me themselves. I could just pull the trigger and it would all be over. They would hear the gunshot. They would come running. Find me and assume I had been driven insane by the fact I was a son of Artemis. This wasn't the weed talking, something was whispering in my ear. Urging me to pull the trigger. Almost in a trance, I clicked the safety and cocked it back. The voice cooed at me as a stuck the gun to my temple. My hand shook. But I gripped the gun and stuck my finger on the trigger.

_What am I doing?_ I thought

I dropped the gun. The fates were fucking with me now. Chiron had warned me that since my mother had broken her oath, the fates would attempt to kill me. I would have a heroes fate, and with luck, I would die a heroes death. But that's just it, I don't want to die at all. I usually don't care, but now, now that it was real to me that I could actually die, I didn't want to. I wanted to live, and I would do anything to do so. I would fight to my last breath. I wouldn't go down easily, but I wouldn't hide behind others and allow them to die for me. What was happening? This wasn't me. I was a Crip. I'm a thug, a stone cold rock hard thug. I have a heart of ice and no soul. I don't care if others die. But I do. I drifted into an uneasy sleep. I had my first dream as a demigod that night.

"Ah little demigod, what a pleasure it is, I understand that we will face each other soon in battle, I do always like to meet my opponents before the battle." A voice thundered

I looked around. All around me, people were chained up. I saw twelve people. I knew they were gods. Then I saw people chained up next to them. Each by their godly parent. Percy was chained by Poseidon. Annabeth by Athena. Hazel and Nico by Hades. Frank by Ares. Piper was by Aphrodite. Leo by Hephaestus. Jason by Zeus. And three girls chained up next to my mother. One had black choppy hair, she looked kind of goth, and she had this silver circlet in her hair. And next to her was a girl with regal features and green eyes. Probably not a demigod, maybe a Nymph, and the girl next to her was breathtakingly beautiful. She had long brown hair and dark brown eyes. She didn't wear make-up, her beauty was completely natural. They were hunters. Percy had described how they dressed to me. After he explained what they were. Like I said, I've never heard any Greek myths. Over off to the side were three more people. Two black kids, one was wearing a tight, black muscle tank top. And he had a buzzcut. Then there was a kid slightly shorter than him, with curly hair. He looked terrified but he was trying not to show it. Then white girl next to him. She had on a leather jacket and headphones slung around her neck. He blonde hair tumbled down around her shoulders.

"What is this place?" I said out loud

"Raven," My mother screamed "You must fight him, this is your destiny, take your sword and strike him down."

I didn't have a sword. Wait, did I? I reached behind my back and pulled out a sword. It had a leather grip handle. And the bottom was pointed into a blade type tip. Perfectly circular, less than an inch wide and barley an inch long. It was celestial bronze except for the very tip, it was silver. Then the hild was gold. And the blade. Wow, the blade. It was Stygian iron straight up the center and then rimmed with celestial bronze. And the tip of the blade, all the way around was silver. It was the sword that Leo and Percy and me had been building. It was a thing of beauty. I thought about drawing my gun, but it wouldn't have done me much good. Suddenly a figure jumped from the dark and lunged at me. We battled in the center of the arena. The gods and the demigods were chained around us. Watching, waiting. I don't know where I learned to sword fight, but I was doing things I had never known I could do. I saw the moves before he had even made them. But then he got lucky. I lunged and tried to stab him, but he lashed out with his foot and kicked me. I slammed my head into the pillars that my mother was chained to. My sword flew across the arena. I tried to move but there was a sword on my neck. The man looked down on me. He was muscular. And tan. He looked athletic. He wore standard greek armor. His eyes were blood red. I mean pure blood red. He had no irises or anything, he was completely red.

"Ah, they don't make them like they used to, I hoped things would be more interesting when I heard you were a son of Artemis, but alas you disappoint me, as they all did" He said

He shoved the sword into my chest and I felt excruciating pain. I screamed. The pretty hunter girl screamed as well.

"NOOOOOO!"

Then suddenly someone was shaking me awake.

"Wake up kid, calm down." A girl's voice said from above me.

I shot straight up in the bed. The first thing that I registered was the girl in front of me. She was the choppy haired girl from my dream. And then I saw the other two girls from the dream. They were staring at me. Then I took in the rest of the room. There was about three dozen girls all standing around the cabin. All of them staring at me. I got off of the bed and stood.

"That weed has got to be laced." I said more to myself than them

"Bad dream?" The choppy haired girl guessed

"Yeah, how did you know?" I asked

"Well most demigods do, I didn't want to move you for a second, but then you turned green and your veins started popping, and then you screamed like you were being stabbed or something." She said

"Ahh right, silly me." I muttered taking the bong and sticking it back in the night stand drawer along with my lighter

"You should've expected them, seeing as you snuck into Artemis's cabin, you look new, quick tip, when the Stolls tell you that this is a good idea, it's not." She said gesturing around the room

"The Stolls didn't tell me anything," I said getting pissed now "And I didn't sneak in, I fucking live here."

"Okay one, that's complete bullshit, two watch your language." She demanded now looking as angry as I was

"Oh what, you gonna make me bitch." I said

The hunters started stepping in between us.

"Who in the Hades are you anyways?" She demanded

I stared her down. This girl kind of scared me. Okay that's it, I need to get the fuck back to the hood, now all of the sudden bitches scared me.

"Raven," I spat "Son of Artemis."

Amber:

Thalia looked shocked. We all did. This boy was sleeping in the Artemis cabin and then claimed to be a son of Artemis. Tha was impossible she was a maiden for eternity.

"No you're not, now get out." She demanded

Raven looked like he was trying to keep his temper under control. I couldn't help but staring. He was shirtless. A white t-shirt had been thrown into the corner of the room. He wore black cargo shorts. He was sagging them, and underneath he wore white basket ball shorts with a black stripe running down the sides. He was pretty muscular. I couldn't help but stare at the scar on his stomach. It still looked a bit green, he had been wounded by a Manticore, I had seen those types of wounds before. It was round and wide. It was also slightly jagged as if the thorn had been ripped from him. Then I saw the scar on his left eye. Then the one on his left shoulder. A brand mark. A raven. And then finally, the one on his left bicep. FJC. I knew it was gang related, and the scar looked very deep. It looked old, but it wasn't anywhere near faded. Then I saw something. His silver irises. And now that I took a closer look, he did kind of resemble Lady Artemis.

"I could believe it, look at his eyes." I spoke up

Thalia did so but then scowled. At first, I thought she was going to admit defeat and apologize, but, I knew that wasn't Thalia.

"Contacts, a trick of the mist, or something," She said "Now let's show him what happens when you mess with us."

She scanned the room untill she saw a photograph. Raven followed her gaze and lunged. Big mistake. By doing this, he had shown Thalia that picture was something he cared about. Thalia had the photograph in her hand before he got near her and held it up for us all to see.

"Aww look how pretty he looks, I guess you don't actually own a shirt, or any of your friends for that matter." Thalia said

Several hunters laughed, but that because they hadn't noticed what the rest of us had. The picture was of Raven standing in the center. His arms around two other boys. Who also had their arms around him. They were smiling and laughing, Raven didn't have a scar. Their left hands were forming a C. The Crip's gang sign. Suddenly, I realized what the scar on his arm was. Flat Junction Crips. There had been a story on the news about a month ago about several members of the gang killed during a drug raid. None of them had shirts on, they were all pretty muscular. They all sagged their pants, and each of them had guns tucked into their waistbands. The two boys on either side of Raven looked familiar. And, with a horrible realization dawned on me. The two boys had crosses draw onto the picture where their foreheads were with a sharpie. And there was an inscription on the back.

**In loving memory**

**Free**

**Brother, Son, Fiance, Father **

**June 18, 1999-April 14, 2014 **

**Money**

**Brother, Son, Beloved Student**

**August 13, 1998-April 14, 2014**

Then I knew why the two boys looked familiar. They were both on the news. After the gun fight, they had shown all of the people killed in the shootings. Including Police and gang members. And they were among the faces that had been shown. The news report said they were all killed except for one of the Crips. He had escaped on foot and hadn't been found. Was it possible that Raven had been that Crip?

"Give it back." Raven said his voice cracking

He was pointing a gun at Thalia. The same one he had in the picture. And he looked angry enough to pull the trigger. Suddenly, Thalia saw the inscription on the back.

"I-I-I'm so so sorry." She said quietly handing back the picture

She looked really sorry for what she had done. especially since she had made fun of the two kids in the picture and then found out they were dead. But Before Raven could make a move, a silver light filled the room.

"Lady Artemis." Thalia said and sank to her knees

We all followed her example. But then we noticed Raven was still standing. Glaring at Artemis.

"My son," She said "Oh how have you grown since I last saw you."

"You let him die." Raven said quietly

Artemis seemed to understand and rushed forward to embrace her son but he pushed her away.

"Raven," She pleaded "I wanted to save him, I did, but I broke my oath, and that has deadly consequences."

"HE KILLED HIMSELF BECAUSE OF YOU, AND I DIDN'T EVEN GO TO HIS FUNERAL BECAUSE I HAD BEEN TAUGHT TO HATE HIM FOR MURDERING A MOTHER WHO WAS RIGHT THERE THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME!" He screamed in rage at her

A centaur and a black haired boy with sea green eyes appeared in the doorway. They were followed by a tall asian boy, a black girl with curly hair, a tall boy with blonde hair, a short boy with curly hair, a girl with blonde hair and grey eyes, a beautiful girl who I just so happened to recognize as Calypso, a girl with black hair and grey eyes, a girl with a choppy haircut and an indian feather in her hair, then a boy in black with a pure black sword at his side. They all forced their way into the cabin and stood in horror as Raven continued to scream at the goddess.

"Raven, I couldn't, everything would've happened a lot sooner if I had stepped in." Artemis said

"NO!" Raven screamed "I'M NOT GOING TO SIT HERE AND LISTEN TO THIS I COULDN'T DO THIS THAT AND THE OTHER BULLSHIT, YOU LET MY DAD DIE, YOU LET FREE DIE, YOU LET MONEY DIE, BECAUSE YOU WERE AFRAID OF WHAT EVERYONE WOULD DO WHEN THEY FOUND OUT YOU HAD A SON! YOU COULD'VE INTERVENED AT ANY POINT AND TAKEN ME HERE. SO I DIDN'T HAVE TO END UP WITH THESE SCARS!"

He indicated to the scar on his eye and the one on his bicep.

"Raven-" Artemis started but he cut her off

"YOU LET ME GROW UP ON THE STREETS WHEN I WAS FIVE, I HAD NO ONE, NO MOTHER, NO FATHER, NO FAMILY!" He screamed, tears were forming Artemis's eyes now "THE GANG WAS MY FAMILY, AND THEN THEY TOOK MY TWO BEST FRIENDS AND EVENTUALY, I LOST THAT FAMILY TOO, I JOINED AT TEN! NOW I CAN'T GO BACK TO FLAT JUNCTION EVER BECAUSE IT BRINGS UP TO MANY MEMORIES AND THE ONLY REASON I HAVEN'T RUN TO THE POLICE AND STARTED SHOOTING SO THAT THEY WOULD KILL ME AND I COULD GET OUT OF THIS BULLSHIT IS BECAUSE TONY IS STILL OUT THERE AND I'M GOING TO KILL HIM! AND YOU CAN TELL THE FUCKING FATES, THAT I'M NOT GOING ANYWHERE, UNDERWORLD OR OTHERWISE UNLESS I GET WHAT THE FUCK I WANT!"

"Raven, I'm sorry, I truly am, I should've just accepted the consequences and claimed you before you had to suffer through all of that," She said wiping her eyes "But, I've claimed you now, and that's all that matters, you have a mother now."

"I DON'T NEED ONE NOW! I NEEDED ONE TEN YEARS AGO WHEN DAD WENT TO JAIL, I NEEDED ONE SEVEN YEARS AGO WHEN HE FUCKING HUNG HIMSELF, I NEEDED ONE FIVE YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS FORCED TO JOIN A GANG SO THAT I WOULDN'T DIE ON THE STREETS!" Raven's rage was boiling over now and I took a step back

"Your father didn't kill himself." Artemis said

This startled Raven and for a second, his anger subsided.

"What, the how did he die?" He asked

"He was murdered, The Destroyer sent one of his followers to kill him and the mortals deemed it a suicide." She said

He fell back onto the bed and he looked shocked.

"The Destroyer was the guy I fought in my dream wasn't it?" He asked

Artemis didn't answer

"Wasn't it?" He demanded his voice rising

"Yes." Artemis said quietly

"Leo, is my sword done yet?" Raven asked turning to the short curly haired kid.

"Almost," He said "Just a few more adjustments."

"Well then it looks like I have to do shit the way we did in the hood." He said grabbing his gun back off the bed

"Raven, I promise you, you will get your chance at revenge, but you must wait, you must train." Artemis begged

"And give me one good reason why." Raven said turning on her again

"Zeus has commanded your presence now, we had a trial last night, and the gods have voted, and now Zeus will sentence you." She said

"Well you can tell Zeus to take his little sentence and stick it up his motherfucking ass." He growled

Thunder shook the valley side.

"COME ON PUSSY!" Raven screamed at the side "YOU JUST SEND YOUR THUNDER TO DO YOUR SHIT FOR YOU!"

"Raven stop," Artemis begged "Just come to Olympus, I swear on the river styx that you will have your revenge, but now, you must cooperate for the sake of us all."

Raven didn't look happy, but he nodded. Apparently his mother swearing on the styx was enough. Artemis turned to the hunters.

"After Raven has gotten dressed, you will all accompany us to Olympus, as a guard of sorts." She said

We all nodded. But I knew this was Zeus' orders. And we were actually going to be accompanying him as a prisoner. He would be our prisoner. And something told me that wasn't good for us. I had this feeling that Raven wasn't going to like that idea.


	4. Chapter 4: The trial Part 1-The evidence

**Hey guys. Thanks for tuning in, and here is chapter four yall. It's been a long day and I've had a few technical difficulties but I have it figured it out. Anyways I won't keep you. There isn't really much to say.**

**Percy: Well you could tell everyone that you don't own us**

**Me: I've said that in like every single chapter, dog I think they get it**

Chapter 4: The trial: Part 1-The evidence

Artemis:

I sat in my throne observing the room. I was nervous, if my father determined that Raven would have to die, there was little I would be able to do. Despite the things he had said, he was still my son, and I loved him as such. And, quite frankly, I deserved some of the things that he said. I could have done things differently. I could have been a better mother. But I was too worried about the consequences that I didn't think about the affect it would have on my only son.

"They are here." One of the guards said jarring me from my thoughts

My Father nodded and waved his hand. The doors were opened and all of my hunters marched in. Raven was in the center of them. His wrists bound in golden chains. Zeus had insisted that he be restrained, lest he try to escape. Raven had not been so keen on the idea. Eventually, I calmed him down. They stopped in front of where the line of thrones began. I examined him, he wore a plain white sweater. I silently cursed at him when I realized he hadn't at least pulled his pants up for this, damn that stupid sagging pants fad. Raven stared at the giant orb suspended in the center of the room. Where his memories would be played for the entire counsel to watch, and based off of his actions, we were to make our decision.

"Raven, son of Artemis," Zeus said this as though he still could not believe he was uttering these words "You are being tried for your mother breaking her sacred oath, your coming could mean bad things, how do you plead?"

Raven shrugged

"Uhhh, how exactly do you plead to the charge of being born? Why am I on trial instead of my mother? I didn't break her oath, I was just the result."

Raven was not smiling as he said this. Which was good because Olympians are not known for our sense of humor. He locked eyes with my father. Not many did that, even gods. Zeus was attempting to stare him down, but Raven was refusing to be intimidated. He stared back with just as much force. Eventually, my father broke his gaze.

"We will examine you memories, your actions, and decide your fate." He announced

Raven rolled his eyes, not a smart move. My father's nostrils flared in anger but before he could vaporize him, Raven spoke.

"Look, I know how this works, you don't have to explain it, let's just hurry this up because I got shit to do, I'm almost out of weed for one thing." He said

I stifled a laugh as I caught the look on my father's face. He might have killed Raven right there, but Poseidon spoke up.

"Perhaps," He said "We should start, I too, would like to get this over with."

Zeus sighed.

"Very well," He said "Let's get started, the first memory we will examine is on the morning of July 15, 2012."

I recognized that as the day that Raven had killed someone for the first time. A look of worry flashed across his face but was gone so quickly that I was almost sure I had imagined it. He white mist came from Raven's forehead and slowly submerged into the orb. We all watched as the image swirled and then slowly formed into a clear image. It was a younger Raven, no scar on his eye, he was scrawny. It was almost like reality TV, we saw whatever it was that Raven saw but we saw Raven too. Like he had a camera following him. We could see everything around him. Even things that he couldn't. He stood leaning against a porch railing with his friends Free and Money.

"-Told us it was going down tonight." Free was saying

"Well, let's hope that shit doesn't go sour," Raven said "We can't afford to lose another shipment, we have to get those guns for sure."

"Yeah, well we are part of the crew that's going to get them." Free said

"How many of us?" Money asked

"Ten." Free answered

Raven was playing with a switchblade, flicking it in and out as he thought.

"What happens if it does go bad?" He asked

"Then we haul ass out of there and try not to get shot doing it." Free said

Money played with the cross necklace that he was wearing. Raven lit up a cigarette. He took a drag and blew out a shaky breath.

"I feel like something is gonna go wrong," He said "I don't know what exactly, but I've just got that feeling."

"Nigga, you need to chill, it'll be good, we gonna go in, get the guns, and get out, really the only thing that can go wrong is the cops show up." Free said

"Shit _hombre,_ don't say that, then the five-o really will show up." Money said

Raven started laughing.

"Yeah, you ain't tryna go back to jail, by the way, I meant to ask, the first time you went, did you throw the soap or did you drop it before you got the chance?"

Raven and Free started cracking up while Money just grinned and shook his head.

"I've got half a mind to stick that switch blade up your ass _ese_." Money said

"Bring it on little nigga." Raven said still laughing

I smiled. It was those moments that reminded me of the innocence deep inside my son.

"Let's get it," Free said "Time to roll boys."

The memory fast forwarded and they all stood inside a warehouse with seven other boys dressed in blue. A man in a suit stood in front of them counting money.

"It's all there," He said "Go ahead and check the crates."

One of the boys motioned to Raven. He moved forward and popped the lid off of the wooden crate. He peeked in the box. It was empty.

"What the fuck you playing at?" One of the boys demanded

"Welcome to business motherfuckers, sorry, but we need money, and you needed guns." The man said

He drew a gun from inside his coat. But Raven thought fast. He flicked his switchblade and stuck it in the man's chest. Blood started soaking through the jacket, and the man fell. Raven stared with an open mouth. That was the last bit of innocence drawn from him. He backed up.

"What did I-I killed him." Raven stuttered

"Let's get out of here." One of the older kids said

They dragged Raven away from the scene. And the memory cut off.

Zeus cleared his throat.

"So we can agree that this is when the trouble began, he was never attacked by monsters but he surely had a strong scent. And this is when he began his transformation into the Raven that stands before us." He said

"In my face you see a goon, but in my eyes you see a savage. What else is new?" Raven said, he sounded almost bored.

Zeus was trying to keep his temper. Raven was getting on his nerves. But he wouldn't let it show. He inhaled a deep breath and continued.

"The next memory we will observe is from May 15, 2013." He said shakily

The orb began to swirl until we were staring at a slightly older Raven. He had a scar now. And his Ruger 45 was tucked into his waist. He sat on the hood of a blue 1969 El Camino. Money and Free also sat with him. They were taking hits from a bong and singing along to rap music that was blaring from the speakers.

"I still can't believe you got this car, bro." Raven said to Money

"Yeah man, I'm tall and shit, so I look sixteen so as long as I don't look like I'm doing some shit, they ain't pulling me over." Money said laughing

"Your one crazy son of a bitch." Free said with a laugh.

They all started laughing. Then Money's phone rang.

"Yo." He said picking it up

He listened for a second.

"Got it, consider it done, we'll get that little fucker." He said and then he hung up

"What's going on?" Raven asked

"That bastard that sold Marcus out a few weeks ago is back. And he's running." He said sliding into his car

Raven and Free jumped off the hood and scrambled into the car. The memory fast forwarded and they were sitting in a parking lot.

"That's his car right there, the black Honda by the front doors." Free said pointing

"Alright, so we just wait, it's a Walmart, how long could he possibly be in there." Money said

No sooner had he uttered the words, someone came out of the doors and got into the black Honda. He drove off and Money drove after him. They tailed him for a few blocks before he started to speed up.

"He sees us," Raven said cocking his gun "What do we do."

Before anyone could answer several gunshots cut through the air.

"There's your answer, shoot back." Free said pulling out his gun

Raven leaned out the side window and shot back. Free was doing the same. Money was firing only a few rounds because he had to drive. The black Honda sped around the corner and hit a wall just outside of a construction site. He jumped out and ran into the site.

"SHIT!" Money screamed slamming on the brakes.

"No it ain't over," Raven said jumping out "Circle around and pick us up when we're done."

"Where are you two going?" Money asked

Raven turned

"To chase a snitch."

Raven:

Watching those memories was like a fresh pain for me. I couldn't let it show that they were getting to me. That's what Zeus wanted, to see that what he was doing was having an effect on me. I'd been arrested enough times to learn that trick. It was actually Money who taught me that trick. I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I wiped it quickly, but I was pretty sure my mother saw it. I don't cry, never, not even when my dad died. Not even at Free and Money's funeral. I was always tough as nails, a savage. But this past week, it had all been so much to take in, too much. I had come close when I was explaning to Percy about how Free and Money died. And when Thalia had taken that picture. It was so much, I figured no one would fault me for shedding one small tear after all of that.

"Fuck man," Free said as we bolted through the construction site "So many motherfucking stairs."

I laughed. The site was abandoned so no one tried to stop us as we ran. I ducked as the guy that we were chasing fired a shot at us. We ran up the last flight of stairs. He was climbing up a ladder into the top of the crane. He had nowhere else to go.

"He's going up the crane." Free said pointing

We scrambled up the ladder. He was stopped at the edge of the crane arm and stood about ten feet above the building.

"Nowhere to go." I said pointing my gun

He jumped off the edge and landed on the building below us.

"Oh what the hell, what is this guy, a fucking ninja?" Free huffed

We chased after him and kept shooting as he shot back. Jumping over the close together buildings. Finally, he stopped when we came to a building that had a street between it and the next building.

"Stop running bitch!" I said as we closed in on him

Free raised his gun at the guy. He glared across at him. Free's brother had been killed because someone snitched, this guy would get no mercy from him.

"Be cool, bro." I whispered as we approached

He stood at the edge, shaking very visibly. He was scared. I still hadn't decided if I was going to let him live or die. I had to make up my mind fast. I could hear sirens.

"Don't kill me man, I ain't got any money." He whimpered

"We don't want money," Free spat "We want to know why you sold out Marcus."

His eyes widened in recognition. Now he knew who we were.

"Look bro, they offered me six hundred thousand for names and I gave them a few." He said

_Wrong answer. _I thought

I shook my head rapidly but it was too late. The guy who sold out Free's brother had done it for money. Free's eyes flared with anger. Before I could stop him, four shots cut through the air. The guy jerked a few times and went slack. Blood pooled around him.

"WHAT THE FUCK BRO, I SAID BE COOL AND YOU FUCKING KILLED HIM!" I screamed

"CHILL OUT, I WAS COOL!" He yelled back

"HE'S FUCKING DEAD THAT'S NOT BEING COOL!" I yelled back

The sirens were getting closer now.

"We'll talk later, for now, let's just get out of here." I said

"Alright, sounds good, I ain't trying to get arrested." He said

We bolted back through the construction site. And the memory cut off again. Zeus eyed me as the images in the orb faded.

"This one, interests me the most-" He said but I cut him off

"Why is that one even being shown?" I said my anger bubbling over

"My son-" My mother warned

'I didn't even kill him." I said

"Yes," Zeus said slowly, as though speaking to a child "But you were there, you could've stopped him and you refused."

"This is complete bullshit, this whole fucking trial," I spat "I didn't break my mother's oath, this isn't my fault, none of it, your the all the same, every last one of you, I've heard the story of Thalia's tree, how your daughter was punished for your mistakes, your no better than the monsters that went after her."

My anger was starting to get the better of me. I tried calming down, but then Zeus stood. His lightning bolt in his hands.

"Hold your tongue, boy, or I shall kill you where you stand." He said seething

"You're welcome to try, but you probably won't, you'll send one of your little minions to do it." I returned

Zeus stepped towards me and I braced for a fight, I would have to move fast. And I don't know how many of the gods will sit and watch and how many will help. Or who they'll help. But, before anything could go down, suddenly, my mom was standing in front of me.

"Father, stop." She pleaded

"I really don't know why you bother protecting him," Aphrodite said from her throne "He's everything that you hate in men, he swears constantly, he smokes, drinks, disrespects women, and is very prone to violence."

My mother's eyes flashed with anger and she drew two knives and advanced on Aphrodite.

"I protect him because he is my son, I am fully aware that he swears, smokes, drinks, and is violent. But I have watched him his whole life, and he has never, once hit, forced, or shone any disrespect towards women in any way." She hissed

"What about the things he said to your lieutenant?" Aphrodite countered

"That was an exception, Thalia had that coming." Mom said advancing

Now it was my turn to be the voice of reason. I raised my chained hands and put them on my mother's shoulder.

"Mother." I said

She relaxed, sheathed her blades, and then returned to her throne.

"We will settle this later." She said glaring at Aphrodite

Zeus sat back down in his throne. His voice shook with anger as he spoke.

"We shall take a break, clearly tempers are running high." He said

And with that he left the room in a flash. I mean in a literal flash. The gods began rising from the throne. I walked out of the throne room doors and stood on the balcony overlooking Olympus. My hands were still chained but I managed to pull my cigarettes from my pocket. I lit one shakily. I needed to be careful, I had to show the judge (Zeus) that I wasn't scared of him, but I also had to be careful not to piss him off and get vaporized.

"You really should quit those things," a voice said from behind me "I hear they can kill you."

I saw my mother come up on the side of me.

"Yeah well, if I get cancer, I'll just pop some Ambrosia." I said

My mother let out a small laugh. But stopped quickly.

"You need to be careful, my son, Zeus was not kidding when he said he would kill you." She said

"I just don't get why I'm on trial." I said taking another drag off of my cigarette

"Because the gods cannot be punished directly, we are immortal, and cannot be killed, so unfortunately our children pay the price," Mom said "What you said in there, about gods being no better than monsters, it struck a nerve with my father because it was true."

"And Zeus hates being wrong?" I guessed flicking the cigarette out

"Absolutely despises it." She confirmed

"What if they find me guilty?" I asked

"I won't allow them to kill you, despite what they say, you are my son, and if you must die, I will do everything that I can to prevent it."

I sighed and stared off into the distance. The people below us moved around going about their normal business. Unaware that a son of Artemis was on trial for a crime he did not commit right above them.

"I know I act hard, but I'm nowhere close to ready to die." I said

"Raven, you are my son, and even though you are a male, and I'm supposed to hate males, I love you because you are my son, I will not willingly let you die." She said

"My fatal flaw is that I would die for love, but, there isn't anything that I care about in this world." I said

"There are things you love, you just don't know what they are, and if The Destroyer finds them, he will use them." She said soothingly

"Who is The Destroyer?" I asked

My mother looked solemn for a few minutes, as though she was contemplating. I could tell she knew but was debating weather or not to tell me.

"Tartarus." She said finally

"The pit?" I asked

"Yes." She said quietly

I contemplated. Zeus had said my coming could mean bad things. Was this what he meant?

"The Destroyer was another name that he was known by." My mother said

Before I could respond, one of the Olympian guards came around the corner and stood at attention.

"Lady," He said "Zeus demands your presence back in the throne room, the trial is about to continue."

**Haha. Another cliff hanger. I hate it when other authors do it, but I think it's funny when I do it. So anyways, the reason I changed from The Destroyer to Tartarus was because I didn't like The Destroyer. So I changed, but I promise, he wasn't really called that, I made it up, but from here on out, he will be referred to as Tartarus. Uhhhhhh, review and tell me what you think, like I said, flames are acceptable.**


	5. Chapter 5: The trial part 2-The verdict

**Hey guys. So good to be back. Sorry about the little hiatus that I took after chapter 3. Nobody is reviewing and I don't know how to tell how many are reading it. There is never a thing that tells you. But there really isn't much to say. I don't own Percy Jackson or the Kane chronicles (I promise they will come in later on in the story) So review, flames are acceptable, yada yada ya. Ladies and germs I present to you chapter 4 part 2. **

Chapter 4: The Trial: Part 2-The verdict

Thalia:

We filed back into the throne room. I kept a close eye on Raven. I had this feeling that he would try something if things went wrong. I couldn't let that happen. Just because he was Lady Artemis's son, didn't mean I had to like him. I moved to stand next to him. The gods began to appear one by one. Aphrodite had given everyone quite a shock. After everyone thought she had been kidnapped, she popped back up. Turns out she wasn't kidnapped, she was just out making babies. Whore. Anyways, that meant we only had three missing gods. Didn't make them any easier to find. Once all the gods that had not been kidnapped had come back in, the trial resumed. Raven shuffled his feet, I could see his ADHD was kicking in. He couldn't stay like this forever. I could tell he was silently hoping that something would attack us so he could move or do something.

"Now," My father said "We shall resume the trial where we left off. This next and final memory that we shall is the morning of April 14, 2014."

The orb in the center of the room glowed and an image appeared. The Raven in the image looked exactly like the one standing next to me. He had no shirt on (seriously, does he just not own one) and he was laying in bed. Well actually, it was just a mattress on a floor. The door opened and two kids came in. I recognized them as the two from the other memories. Free and Money. Money was smoking out of a bowl, and Free was drinking out of a bottle. as I looked a little bit closer, I noticed it was fireball whiskey.

"-got 4-20 in a few days, we got a shitload of weed." Money was saying

"Yeah, we might still have some in six days if you stop smoking all of it." Free said

Money giggled. It was cute kind of. I've never ever heard a guy giggle.

"Hey look, this nigga still asleep, it's three in the afternoon." Money said

"Yeah but we hit that party last night." Free reasoned

Money kicked Raven and he groaned.

"What the fuck you bitches doing?" Raven said from under the blanket

"Bro, get up, it's three in the afternoon, we got two hours before the Albanians want us at the deal." Free said

Raven didn't respond so Money kicked him again. Raven stuck his hand out from under the blanket and was holding his gun.

"You niggas wanna die today?" His muffled voice came

Money took a hit off of his bowl and ripped the blanket off of Raven. He blew the smoke into Raven's face and he sat up immediately.

"I'm alive, let's roll, but give me a hit first." Raven said

Money laughed and handed him the bowl. And then Raven took a hit and stood.

"Ah damn, that just hit me like a ton of bricks." He said coughing

"Yeah, this shit'll knock you on your ass." Money laughed

I heard music coming from Free's pocket and he pulled out his phone. He let it play for a second as the three boys bobbed their heads to the beat.

"Yeah yeah yeah yeah, bruh I see girls everywhere

titties, ass, hands in the air, it's a party over here

Shake, shake it for the man of the year"

(A/N credit goes to Schoolboy Q song is called man of the year)

"Hey babe, I was wondering when I'd hear from you." Free said answering his phone

He listened for a moment and then laughed.

"Yeah sure, we'll be over there in a sec." He said

He looked up with excitement in his eyes.

"What's up?" Raven asked pulling a shirt on

Free laughed. I suddenly felt a pain in my heart. This boy had been full of life. He had a girlfriend. I remembered what it said on the back of the picture. He had a baby too. Someone had taken all that away from him. Raven had said someone snitched, and got those two boys killed. I understood Raven's desire for revenge, he wanted to make whoever did it pay. Frankly, if I happen to be with him when he gets his revenge, I won't stop him.

"Teresa just called me, the baby is kicking." He said

"So we're going over there?" Money asked

"Yeah, she said she stuck an empty soda can on her stomach and the baby kicked it clear across the room."

"No shit?" Raven asked wide eyed

"Yeah." Free said

"Well shit, let's go." Money said

They walked out the door and got into Money's El Camino. They drove for a few minutes listening to music and smoking. They stopped by a Taco Bell to get some food before pulling into someone's driveway. They approached the door and knocked. It took a few minutes but finally someone answered the door.

"Lamar, it's good to see you." A woman said embracing Free

"Hey Mrs. S, is Teresa here?" Free asked

"Yes, your lucky Derek isn't here." She said

They entered the house and went into the living room. A beautiful girl sat on the couch watching TV. She had a swollen belly. She smiled when she saw Free and he walked over and gave her a kiss.

"How's my little girl doing?" He said resting his hand on her belly

"She's fine." Teresa said

Raven sat down on the couch next to Teresa.

"Congratulations, hopefully it doesn't turn out like this little bastard." He said jerking his thumb towards Free

They all cracked up.

"Bro, I saw something on ifunny the other day, it said 'how come when a girl is pregnant, everyone rubs her belly and says congratulations, but no one pats your dick and says good job?'" Free said laughing

Money reached around and slammed his fist into Free's groin.

"Good Job." He said

"You fuck." Free gasped from the floor. They all laughed again.

Money's phone rang and he pulled it out.

"It's the boss." He said

"Put it on speaker." Free said sitting next to him

He clicked something and laid the phone on the coffee table.

"Hello?" He said

"Hey, Raven and Free with you?" A voice said from the phone

"Yeah, they're right here." Money said

"Alright listen, deal is being moved, someone ratted and a bunch of people just got taken down." The guy said

"Who snitched?" Free said

"Tony." The boss said

Free's eyes darkened

"How do you know?" Raven asked

"We have some moles in the police ranks, and they give me names every time they get a rat. Even if they have nothing to do with the FJC."

"Alright, so are we leaving right now?" Free asked

"Yes," The boss said "There is a fifty fifty chance that cops will storm the deal, but we'll take that risk because we need the money, there is a blue Nova on 22nd street, keys are behind the front left tire, the other two guys are already headed to the car."

"Got it." Free said

"And Free," The boss said "I meant what I said, this is your last job, do this and your out and free to do whatever you want to."

"Thanks, man." Free said

"No problem." And with that he hung up.

Free gave his girlfriend a kiss and walked out the door. The memory fast forwarded and the three boys were sitting in a car with two others outside a ship yard. Free was shaking.

"Shit man, I can't do this, it's gonna go wrong I can feel it." He said

"Calm down, it'll be fine, were gonna do this quickly, in and out." Raven said

Free nodded. Another car pulled up about fifty feet away.

"Alright, let's do this." Money said

The boys nodded and did some weird handshake. They slapped palms twice, then made that rock and roll sign but with their thumbs sticking out and slapped the back of their hands, then a fist bump. Then the five of them got out of the car. Six men in suits were getting out of the other car. Each of them had guns in their hands. The Crips got out too and had their guns too. One of them popped the trunk and pulled out a duffle bag. They approached the men in suits. They stopped about five feet from each other and eyes one another wearily.

"You weren't followed?" One of the suits asked

"No," Raven said "You?"

"No. Drugs?." He said said

Raven nodded and the boy threw the duffle bag on the ground. One of the men stepped foward and unzipped it. He pulled out a bunch of bags and counted them. He nodded at someone else and they gave Raven a briefcase. Raven opened it and counted money. He nodded and shut the case and handed it to Free.

"It's all there." He announced

He shook hands with one of the men.

"Let this mark the beginning of a period of peace between the Crips and the Albanians" The man said

"Gangstas and Gangsters." Raven joked

The Crips laughed and a few of the Albanians joined in. Suddenly, one of the Albanians backed up. He pointed his gun at them.

"Freeze, NYPD, all of you are under arrest." He said

Before any of the boys could do anything, a gunshot rang out and the man dropped. Sirens were wailing and closing in.

"I knew there was a rat, let's get out of here." One of the men said

But, before anyone could move, police cars pulled up and men got out. Dogs barked and gunshots cut through the air. Raven ducked and the Crips and Albanians returned fire. One of the Crips jerked and dropped, then two Albanians.

"FUCK! BACK TO THE CARS!" One of the Albanians yelled

A bullet struck him in the head and he dropped. More gunshots rang out, another Crip dropped. Then another Albanian.

"LET'S GET-" Money started to say but he never finished because right then, several bullet holes stitched him across the chest.

"MONEY!" Free screamed but it was too late

Money lay sprawled on the ground with blood all around them. His eyes staring at the sky. Free fired back and hit one of the cops in the chest. Raven reached down and closed Money's eyes. They sprinted across the shipyard. But a dog was chasing them, he jumped onto the remaining Albanian and pinned him. Raven raised his gun but when he pulled the trigger all that happened was a clicking sound. Free experienced the same result.

"GO, LEAVE ME, IT'S FIRST OFFENSE I'LL BE FINE!" He screamed

The boys sprinted and jumped into the Nova. Free hopped into the driver's seat and Raven sat in the passenger seat. They peeled out of the shipyard but there were three cop cars on their tails.

"Fuck bro, I ain't got no bullets."Raven said

"There's a chopper in the back seat." Free said

Raven reached back and pulled and AK-47 and started shooting out the window.

"Fuck man, Money." Free said

"I know bro, I know, we'll get Tony, we'll get him, I promise." Raven said

Before Free could respond, the sound of helicopter wings filled the throne room, and bullets ripped through the roof of the car. Free jerked and blood sprayed from him as holes appeared in his body. The car swerved off of the road and flipped over into a ditch.

"FREE! NO! FUCK!" Raven screamed

He kicked the door off and got out. The sirens were closing in.

"I'm sorry dog," Raven whispered to Free's body "I'll get that little fucker for both of you guys."

He closed Free's eyes and turned.

"YOU HEAR THAT TONY?" He screamed "YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!"

And with that, he bolted from the scene. And the memory fast forwarded once more.

When the image returned, Raven was holding a casket. And lowering it into a grave. With three other boys. After it was in, they returned to a hearse parked a few feet away and picked up another. After they lowered into the ground, Raven stood back. He walked over and stood next to Teresa, she had tears streaming from her eyes, and there was a woman next to her also crying.

"Raven," The woman said "What happened exactly."

Raven told them the story. The woman began crying harder.

"His last job, it was his last one. Why?" She said

"I know who sold us out, all I need to do is find him, I'll make him pay." Raven said

"Don't do anything stupid Raven, I don't want to come back here for your funeral." A tall hispanic woman said through her tears

"He killed your son, and you don't want me to go after him?" Raven demanded him

"I didn't say that, I said don't do anything stupid." She said

"Free's baby is going to grow up without a father, Money will never even see his brother come back from Iraq, anything I do from this point on isn't stupid, it's justified." Raven said seething

The hispanic woman nodded. And so did the woman who I assumed to be Free's mother. Teresa had fresh tears in her eyes.

"Don't let him get away with this." She pleaded

"I won't." Raven promised "He'll pay, I swear to you he will."

And the memory faded.

Raven:

I watched as the orb went black again. The pain hit me like a ton of bricks. It was like being at their funeral all over again. I guess in a way, I was. Zeus rose from his throne and eyed me. The evidence has been reviewed. And now we will decide his fate.

"None of that evidence had anything to do with what I'm on trial for in the first place." I protested

Zeus glared at me.

"What say the council?" He asked

Apollo stood

"With all due respect, father," He said "I do believe that we should let him live, let him prove himself."

Zeus thought about this but then Hera spoke up.

"The boy is clearly dangerous, we just saw the things that he is capable of, first hand, plus, Artemis expects her hunters to follow a rule she has broken, punish Artemis by killing her son." She said

Aphrodite cleared her throat

"We must make sure this never happens again, if we are to punish Artemis, what better way to do it than to force Artemis to kill the boy herself."

"I WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" My mother exclaimed from her throne horrified

"SILENCE!" Zeus demanded

Aphrodite glared at my mother.

"All in favor of sparing him?" Zeus asked

Artemis, Poseidon, Apollo, Hephaestus, and Hestia all raised their hands.

"All in favor of his execution?"

Hades, Zeus, Ares, Aphrodite, and Hera all raised their hands.

"It is a tie." Zeus said

He thought for a moment.

"Hestia," He said "gave up her throne, and therefor is no longer on the council, so her vote doesn't count."

I realized what that meant.

"Shit." I muttered

"The vote is five to four." Zeus said.

He stared at me as if contemplating what he was about to do.

"Kill him." He said motioning towards his guard

My mother made a move. But before she could do anything I reached over towards Thalia and ripped her knife from her belt. The hunters scattered as ten of the Olympian guard closed in on me.

"I'm not going to die easily." I spat

My hands were chained but I would still be able to fight. One of them advanced and I shoved the knife into his gut and kicked him away. Nine to go. The rest moved forward and I went into another zone. The guy I stabbed was laying on the ground clutching his stomach, I didn't kill him. I fought like a whirlwind. Kicking, slicing, stabbing, moving. But then they got lucky. I kicked one of the guards and sent him sprawling, none of the gods had moved. As I moved in to incapacitate the guard, I felt a stinging pain in my gut, one of the guards had stabbed me with his spear from behind.

"AAARRRRGGGHH!" I screamed I sank to my knees

The pain was overwhelming, he had gone clean through my still healing Manticore wound. I fought through it and stood shakily. I turned around and grabbed the guy by the neck and slammed him on the ground. He started to push himself up, but I put my foot to the back of his head and slammed him face first into the floor. I'm not sure how much damage I did but I crushed the front of his helmet on the floor. I reached down and felt my stomach, he pushed it clean through and I had a gaping hole in my stomach. My shirt was soaked with blood. I stood staring at a shocked Zeus. He rose and summoned his lightning bolt. In a flash my mother was standing in front of me.

"Father, stop." She demanded

"No," He said "He is dangerous and must be destroyed, I'll blast right through you if I have to Artemis."

When my mother didn't move he raised his bolt. Electricity crackled through the air. Poseidon stood.

"Brother." He warned

A bolt of electricity arched across the room. I shoved my mother to the side and took the blast full force. I'm not entirely sure what I did. I threw my hands up and this silver stuff flowed around my hands almost like silver flames and they formed a kind of shield in front of me. That's what actually took the impact. An explosion shook the throne room. The chains around my hands shattered. I stared around at everyone. The hunters were all staring with gaping mouths and wide eyes. Even the gods were shocked. Zeus eyed me like I was a TV show he suddenly found that looked interesting, and he hadn't yet decided weather or not to watch it.

"Interesting," He said "I...change my vote, the boy lives."

All of the gods looked at Zeus.

"Are you serious?" Hera asked

"Yes, I am, he lives." Zeus said

All of the gods stared with open mouths. Even the ones who voted to let me live, they all eyed me like I was dangerous, I guess I was. What had I just done?

"What was that?" I asked

"You created light, you drew moonlight from the air," Hestia said "I haven't seen a demigod wield that power since-"

She trailed off as she met Zeus's eyes.

"Since when?" I asked

I looked down at my hands.

"What am I." I asked

"It is the curse," Artemis said "The one that Styx bestowed upon you the night you were born."

"The last one to wield that power, a son of mine, the very first with the power, died painfully, by the hand of Tartarus." Poseidon said

"Why would a son of Poseidon control moonlight." I asked

"A gift Artemis bestowed upon him, we saw his fate and hoped to prepare him, but we just changed who ended up killing him, he still died painfully." He said sadly

"Since then no hero has been born with that gift," Ares said "Or curse, depends on how you look at it, this could be very interesting."

"Mother," I said "You said something about Styx bestowing a curse."

"Well, I could tell you, but it would just be much simpler to show you." She said

She stuck her hand to the her temple and pulled a strand of white silvery stuff from her head. It flew into the orb and an image started to appear. It showed my mother, cradling a newborn baby. Wrapped up in a silver blanket. With a start I realized the baby was me. Artemis smiled down at me. I smiled back. I noticed she was standing by a river. And a goddess rose from it. Even though it was just a memory, I could feel her power radiating.

"Please, don't do this to him." My mother begged.

"You have broken an oath. You swore to remain a virgin for all eternity, not only have you broken that oath, but you sired a child." The goddess said

"Yes, I know, but you can't kill him." Artemis said

"I'm not going to kill him, I won't kill one with such innocence, but he will live with a curse, one that you yourself have created." Styx (I'm assuming that's who she was seeing as she was floating above the river styx, plus mom said that Styx cursed me.)

"No, please no." My mother said as it dawned on her

But Styx raised her hand and a silver ball shot towards the bundle in her arms, she tried to turn but the ball veered to the side and sank into the baby. And the baby began to cry. A tear fell from my mother's eye as she stared at the bundle. And the memory faded. I stood there staring at the orb. What was I? I'm going to die probably, they said Tartarus killed the first one with this power, and now the way they talk about him, they make it seem like I'm expected to fight him.

"Son." My mother said stepping towards me

"Just another thing that you didn't tell me." I spat glaring at her

She drew back genuinely hurt. I considered apologizing, but nah fuck it. I stormed from the throne room. I hated them. All of them, even the ones who let me live. I wanted to see them all destroyed. Send them to Tartarus. what do I care? Let them rot, they teach us to fight and die for them. Why don't they get off of their asses and do some shit themselves. They were going to kill me because I was alive. No, this isn't me, this is Tartarus corrupting my thoughts. I was suddenly aware of the pain in my stomach. I had forgotten about it. Now it stung, I knew I was probably bleeding. My vision was going fuzzy. I staggered. I tried to move but I collapsed to my knees.

"Raven!" I heard my mother shout but she sounded far away.

I spit and blood came out. I fell to the ground and laid face down. Everything went black

Still Raven:

I woke up inside my mother's temple. How do I know that? I have no idea, but I just knew. I was laying on a bed of furs. I sat up and stared around. The room I was in was like penthouse. There was a big window overlooking Olympus. It was a wide room, with a mini-fridge, and a TV. Not a bad way to live as a god. I stood and approached the door. My stomach was on fire. There was something with that blade. Maybe it was a material that Olympians used for their weapons or something. I opened the door and staggered out into the living room. My mother, Apollo, and four huntresses were sitting on the couch talking. They stood when I entered. My mother moved toward me hesitantly.

"Raven?" She asked with concern

"I'm fine," I said as I stumbled "Shit, not fine."

My mother caught me and sat me on the corner of the couch. She eyed me with concern. I scanned the four hunters faces. Thalia, a girl who introduced herself to me as Amber, a tall girl with regal features and a mischievous grin, and upturned eyebrows, daughter of Hermes for sure, and finally, a girl with jet black hair and dark brown eyes. She smiled at me knowingly. I tried to smile back but it came out more as a grimace. I started to stand but Artemis put her hand on my chest.

"No," She said "Sit, you're hurt, you can't go running around."

"I'll be fine, it's not like I'm going on a quest or anything, I'm just standing up." I said standing anyways

I stumbled as I stood.

"Ahhh gods, my head." I said putting my hand on my forehead

Apollo pulled a pill from his pocket and handed it to me. Yeah yeah, I know what your thinking. Why would you just take a pill from someone? Well, simply put, he voted for me to live, so I don't see any reason he would try and kill me. So I took it and popped it into my mouth. Instantly, I felt better. My headache was gone, my side didn't hurt as bad. He handed me a glass of water. I downed it in one big gulp. It was right then i realized how thirsty I was.

"So," I said looking around "What now?"

"My hunters will escort you back to Camp Half-Blood, the rest of them are already there and awaiting your arrival." Artemis said looking at me with pity

Percy:

We all waited to hear back from Olympus. We had heard a while ago what had happened on Olympus from the hunters that had returned. We had been told that Raven had collapsed and that he was alright. Now we were all just waiting for him to get back. The rest of the camp just knew he was coming back. But the cabin leaders knew all of the details. Chiron had asked that we keep it to ourselves and not say anything to anyone else. Me and Jason were sitting by the pavilion playing a game he invented where we tried to hit something far away at long distances.

"What do you make of Raven?" He asked

"I don't really know what to make of him." I said

"He seems like he's replacing us." Jason said

"What do you mean?" I aksed

"Well, we used to be the guys everyone was afraid of," He said "I think Raven is more powerful than us, before him, they might've expected us to fight Tartarus."

"Oh believe me, Jason," I said "I am perfectly happy to be the one not doing the fighting of the big ass monsters."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not jealous, in fact, I kind of feel sorry for the kid, but I'm glad it's not me." He said

I laughed. I knew what he was saying and I felt the same way. Jason and I used to be the two big dogs, the one everyone looked to. Now it seemed like they were paying more attention to Raven than us. And believe me, it was a nice change from what I was used to. I didn't like all of the attention that I usually got. And frankly, after spending the time I did inside Tartarus, the idea of actually having to fight the spirit of the abyss scared me beyond belief. And I didn't envy Raven one bit, I pitied him. No one should be expected to have to do what they wanted him to do.

"I can't believe it though, there's a rumor going around of a quest to track down the missing gods." Jason said

"And you know who they're going to drag up to lead the quest." I said laughing

"The son of Artemis of course." Jason said

"Of course, knowing our luck," I said "They'll call Raven too inexperienced to do it and make one of us do it."

"Oh gods, don't even talk like that, you'll jinx us." Jason said

"Frankly, the idea of fighting Tartarus scares me, I couldn't do it." I said

"Me neither." Jason agreed

"Well, all that we can really do is just train and hope for the best." I said

Jason nodded.

"I thought it was funny that Aphrodite just popped back up though." I said

Jason cracked up.

"Oh my fucking gods, that was absolutely priceless. I would have paid to see the look on all of the gods faces." He said

We sat their laughing at the thought of it. Then we saw Raven coming down the pavilion. He was accompanied by his mother. He looked horrible. He was pale. And he still looked just a bit on edge. He plopped down next to us and took out a joint.

"What's up bro?" He said lighting it up

"Incredible, you go through everything that you've been and you still made sure you had time to stop and buy more weed." Jason said shaking his had

"Hey, what can I say?" He said "Top priority."

Artemis cleared her throat and Raven looked up.

"I must leave you for now my son, the hunters will stay here, but I will be back before long." She said

Raven nodded but he wouldn't look her in the eyes. Artemis left us sitting at the pavilion. Raven kept on smoking. Jason and I took a few hits. Then Raven finally stood and stretched.

"Listen bro, I'm going to go back to the Artemis cabin, I've had a long day." He said

"I'll go with you," I said standing "I think I'll go to bed too."

Jason ran off to find Piper and Raven and I walked. When we finally reached cabin eight, he turned to me.

"Listen man," He said "I just wanted to say thank you, most people ignored me once I got here, and when they found out that I was a son of Artemis, everyone just kind of steered clear of me, but you didn't ditch me because of who my mother was."

"Hey, no problem," I said "What are friends for?"

He laughed.

"Yo dog, this may just be the weed talking, but I'm glad to have a friend like you." He said

I figured this was about as sentimental as Raven had ever gotten. With a start I realized that was the first time I had ever heard him laugh. It made me sad. I knew when that quest came up, they would want Raven to lead them. And it would be soon, he wasn't ready. But if he didn't step up and defeat Tartarus, we were all as good as dead.


	6. Chapter 6: The moonlight's lullaby

**Hey I'm back. Still no reviews but I've got one follow. So whoever that is thank you. I know that the last two chapters have had a bit of a weak ending but that will change. I promise. I've been working for a while on this chapter. I've just been waiting for the opportunity to write this chapter. I've been chomping at the bit to write this one. So without further ado, I don't own Percy Jackson and here is chapter six. **

Chapter 6: The moonlight's lullaby

Raven:

I walked into the Artemis cabin and the hunters all turned and stared at me. I waved to them. Sarcastically of course. It wouldn't be me otherwise. They didn't look particularly happy to see me but they didn't look like they wanted to kill me. Thalia walked over to me.

"Glad to see you made it back, we were worried." She said

"Yeah well, had to stop for some weed." I said holding up my brand new bag

Some of the hunters smiled. A lot of people were trying to figure out how I had gotten away with smoking when Chiron knew about it. Frankly, I really don't know, I just assumed he figured that I was too stubborn and would do it regardless.

"Oh, I'm being rude," I said crossing the room and grabbing my bowl from the drawer by my bead "Anybody want a hit?"

They all shook their heads and some of them glared at me.

"Suit yourselves." I said sticking it back into the drawer

They all resumed what they had been doing and I laid down in my bed. Thalia came over and sat down next to me.

"Hey," She said slowly "I am really sorry about what happened the other day, I didn't know."

"It's fine, I get it, don't sweat it." I said grinning

"You seem really happy, Annabeth said you haven't smiled or laughed at all since you got here." She said raising her eyebrows at me

Well, I'm high as shit and alive so what is there to be mad about at the moment?" I said"

Thalia laughed at this. Then that girl walked over. Amber, I think her name was. She stared at me.

"What?" I asked

"What do you mean?" She asked

"You were staring at me." I stated

"Oh." She said shyly

She took a deep breath as though she was preparing to say something.

"I had a dream about you, before we came here." She said all in one breath

"And what exactly were we doing in this dream?" I said grinning at her

She blushed. And I mean blushed. She turned so freaking red. Thalia punched me in the arm.

"I had one the other night, you, Thalia, and that nymph over there were all in it." I said pulling a small bottle of moonshine from the backpack I had stolen from the camp store.

"I'm going to go finish cleaning my bow." She said quietly and shuffled off

"Wow, stop hitting on my hunters." Thalia said

"I wasn't hitting on her, you want me to show you hitting on her then I will." I said popping the top off of my moonshine bottle.

"Yeah, let's not do that." She said

"Well, regardless, I really did have a dream." I said

I took a drink from the bottle. And held it out to Thalia. I don't know if she was trying to seem chill or what but she took it from me. It may not have been her first time having a drink, but she definitely wasn't a pro. She made a face almost like she might spit the moonshine out. But she swallowed it and handed it back. I smirked.

"What?" She demanded

"Just always funny to see people new to drinking." I said

"What can I say?" She shrugged "I don't like to drink often."

"I am going to get you high sometime." I decided

"Sounds fun, it can make someone like you happy." Thalia said

"I wasn't always like this you know?" I told her

"Well why don't you tell me a little bit about the old Raven." She said sitting cross legged and putting her chin in her hands like a kid waiting for story time

"You were in that throne room, you saw the memories." I said

"Well, what about the Raven before that?" She asked

I sighed. She wasn't going to give this up. So I sat back and took another drink.

"Well, once upon a time," I began "I was young, small, and slightly adorable.

Thalia snorted. I handed her the bottle again and she took another small drink.

"Anyways, before the whole gang life thing, I was this little innocent scared kid. And I used to be terrified of everything. But, I used to stay up late at night, to watch the moon. I know it sounds weird, but the moon has always comforted me. Sometimes, I would talk to it, and I swear it would talk back to me. I think I spilled my feelings to the moon more than anyone else in the world. It was just easy, it didn't get bored and leave me. And even when it did, I knew it was always coming back. And then, when I joined the gang, I had to learn to be tough quick. So I didn't really talk to the moon anymore. I still looked to it for comfort every now and again." I stopped as I noticed a lot of the hunters were listening in now

I took another drink. I was spilling myself to these girls. Why? No idea.

"After a while, everytime shit bothers me. I drink it away. Or smoke it away. And when something made me angry, I stabbed it, mugged it, or shot it. What they call childhood innocence was taken away from me." I said

As I finished my story, I saw a few of the hunters wipe their eyes. My story was a sad one. I knew that. Not a lot of people went through what I went through. But I had lived through it, and that's all that matters now. I took another drink out of the moonshine before capping it and sticking it into my drawer.

"Well, story time is over, I'm going to get some sleep before dinner." I said

I laid back down on my bed and pulled the blankets over me. I heard the hunters going back to whatever it was they had been doing. But that was about as far as I went before I passed out.

Amber:

Thalia sent me to wake Raven as the hunters left for dinner. I shook him awake and he rolled over and squinted.

"Hey beautiful." He joked

I blushed. Not a whole lot of people could make me blush, and to be honest Raven was kind of cute. But, I was a hunter, so no falling in love. Still I couldn't help staring as he got off the bed and removed his shirt. He walked over to his dresser to change his shirt.

"Can I ask you something?" I asked

"Shoot." He said pulling a black tank top from his dresser.

"In those memories, the first one, you were really, really, unhealthily skinny, then you just got twice that size in less than a year in the next few." I started

"And you're wondering how I managed that?" He asked raising his eyebrow at me

"Yeah." I admitted

I know, it really was a silly thing to wonder, but I had never seen that much of a change in a year's time. And it just kind of made me wonder. ADHD I guess.

"Well, I've been to jail a few times, there really isn't much else to do but lift weights or sit in a cell." He told me

"How long were you in?" I asked him

"The first time, two weeks, then I made bail, the second time four months no bail." He said smiling at me

"Oh so your a bad boy?" I asked jokingly

"Yeah, you know Disney Channel told me to get my parent's permission before going on the website, but I just got on the website." He said

We laughed. I'll admit, he was growing on me. I guess a son of Lady Artemis was just what the hunters needed. Some of them are just a bunch of tightwads. He pulled a silver hoodie out of the closet and put it on. We walked out of the cabin and started down towards the pavilion. We talked and laughed. He was funny. He liked to crack jokes and I was glad that he wasn't the angry boy that was here nearly a few days ago.

"-and this one time," He was saying "Me and Free tried shrooms, Money was in jail at the time, and it was so funny, we got stopped by malls security and he was asking a bunch of questions."

"And what did you say?" I asked

"I just kept telling him that we had to go and eventually he let us." He said cracking up

"How did you manage to pull that off?" I asked him

"I don't know, but try having that conversation on shrooms, I deserve a fucking oscar for that shit." He said

I laughed.

"So your a daughter of Aphrodite?" He asked

"Yeah." I answered

"Wait," I said realizing something "I never told you that."

"I can tell, I ain't trying to be weird, but most Aphrodite girls wear a lot of makeup, and you aren't wearing any but your still pretty, and most of the Aphrodite kids might be better looking if they didn't wear so much, their mother is the goddess of beauty it should come naturally." He said

"I get what your trying to say, but it makes no sense the way you say it, it does come naturally, but most kids of Aphrodite are obsessed with finding ways to make themselves more prettier." I told him

"No offense, but a lot of your siblings are just really shallow." He said smiling at me

I laughed. We walked into the pavilion and took our places at the Artemis table. Chiron stood up and pounded his hoof.

"Heroes, we have made it through another day, thankfully, no accidents," He said staring at the Ares campers "It is also my pleasure to welcome back Raven, and announce that he has been allowed to live."

"Yeah bitches, even the gods can't kill me." Raven yelled

The campers laughed and Chiron smiled. I could tell something was bothering him. He kept glancing at Raven and whenever he did, he would look really sad.

"Yes yes, let's try to watch the language." He said

After the campers settled down, Chiron cleared his throat.

"Now, we have some more news on the whole kidnapping gods situation.." He said sighing

The campers all stared. Waiting for the news.

"Two more gods went missing right after the trial, Poseidon and Hera." He said

I saw the boy Thalia had introduced as Percy pale. He looked like he was going to be sick. I felt bad for him. I wondered how it must feel for each of the demigods when they found out their parents were missing. They were all no doubt wondering when a quest would be issued to track down the gods. But I knew it was too dangerous, anything that could kidnap a god was too powerful to be fought by demigods.

"When will there be a quest?" Someone from the Athena cabin asked

"I don't know, we are still attempting to decide if it may be too dangerous to send demigods or not." Chiron said

There was an immediate uproar. They were all yelling about they do dangerous stuff all the time, and this could be fixed. Chiron pounded his hooves but the demigods only got louder. Chiron yelled for them to be quiet but it was starting to turn into a full out riot. Suddenly, a huge explosion rocked the pavilion. All the demigods stopped rioting and turned to stare at a god floating above the fire pit in the center. Zeus was glaring at all of us.

"Demigods," He boomed "Stop, there will not be a quest at this time."

"Why not?" Percy demanded

"It is too dangerous, no demigod can stand against him." He said glaring at Percy

"Who?" Someone from the Ares cabin asked

Apparently, while some of us knew who was behind it, not all of them did.

"I have said too much already, there will be no quest." He said

At this, the rioting began again. This time fistfights broke out. I saw one of the Ares campers grab Raven's shoulder, turned him around and decked him hard in the face. Big mistake. Raven turned and grabbed him by the collar and slammed him up onto the head table. With his free hand, he punched the kid in the face several times.

"SILENCE!" Zeus bellowed as thunder shook the valley.

Raven stopped with his hand suspended in midair. Blood was coming from the kids nose and Raven had a black eye. Percy had some Athena kid in a choke hold. Thalia's brother was gripping a huge kid's arm. The kid had him by the neck and was holding him down. He had a rainbow tattoo on his arm. The kid was twice his size. Some big asian guy was holding a dark skinned girl close to him, trying to protect her from the rioters. All of the demigods stood (or laid) there in various positions. Even Annabeth had a kid on the ground by his arm as though she had just judo flipped him. The head counselor for the Aphrodite cabin, who had introduced herself earlier as Piper, had a girl, I think she said her name was Drew, by the collar and her knife was at Drew's throat.

"There will be no quest," Zeus said angrily "And that is the end of it."

And with that, he disappeared. The campers all sat back down. Most of them nursing minor injuries. I saw Jennifer, a nymph who had joined the hunters several weeks before I had, attempting to check out Raven's blackened eye. He winced when she touched it and shrugged her off.

"I'll be fine." I heard him say to her

She gave up and sat back down. Chiron cleared his throat from the head table.

"Now that we are all calmed down, this matter will be discussed later, for now let us eat." He said spreading his arms

Food appeared on the tables and everyone got up and scrapped some of their meal into the fire. After we sat down, I realized that I had ended up sitting next to Raven. He stared at his cup.

"What do I do?" He asked Thalia

"You've been here for a week." Thalia said as a matter of factley

"Yeah, but this is the first time I've actually eaten here, I usually just skip dinner and go into the city and eat something." He said

"Chiron let you?" Thalia asked, clearly puzzled

"Chiron didn't know, at least I don't think he did, he never said anything to me." Raven shrugged

"What about monsters?" Thalia asked wide eyed

"They never bothered me." He answered

"Well just ask it for anything and it fills up." She said

Raven started to say something to the cup but Thalia cut him off.

"Non alcoholic of course." Thalia said

"Well, fuck that." Raven said

He reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out one of those miniature Jack Daniels bottles. He took the cap off and took a drink. Then shoved it back into his pocket.

"So you're from Brooklyn?" I asked

"Yeah, how'd you guess." He said eyeing me

"FJC is usually out of Brooklyn." I said shrugging

"Well, what about you?" He asked

"Harlem." I answered

He looked at me as if trying to figure something out. But whatever it was, it must not have been important because he didn't share it. Instead he went back to his food. This kid could eat. He put away like two whole pizzas by himself. I stared in awe as he devoured it. Occasionally, he would stop and take a drink from the small bottle in his pocket. By the time dinner as done and we were walking down to the campfire, he had finished three of the bottles and was starting on the fourth. He wasn't staggering, but he was a little tipsy. The hunters all went back to the cabin to meet Lady Artemis before we went to the campfire. We walked in and Raven went over to his bed and grabbed the backpack and began loading it. Lady Artemis sat on his bed and they spoke for a minute as he was packing. He shoved bottles of liquor and bags of weed into the pack before zipping it up. He downed the last of his little bottle and tossed it across the room into the trashcan.

"Kobe!" He yelled

His words were slightly slurred and he was using his mother's shoulder as a support.

"Where are you going?" One of the hunters asked him as we all eyed his backpack

"Party, I'll be back later." Was all he said

Artemis looked worried but she said nothing as Raven gave her a quick hug and slipped out the door. We all walked down to the campfire with Lady Artemis. When we got there all of the campers bowed. And then we roasted marshmallows and sang camp songs. I have to admit, it was kind of fun.

Artemis:

I worried for Raven. I hated to let him just leave like that, but I knew that he would leave anyways. When he wanted to go out and party, there wasn't much that could stop him. I was noticing how he was slowly forgiving me. He even gave me a small hug before he left. He was drunk, but still, it was a start. I thought about all of the gods that had gone missing. Poseidon had told me, before he went missing of course, that they would expect Raven to lead a quest because of the power that he had. I didn't want my son to have to face Tartarus, especially with the fates out to get him. That was one of the reasons I worried about him tonight, what if he was attacked. No one would be there to help him. And all he had was eight celestial bronze bullets.

"Lady?" Thalia's concerned whisper sounded in my ear

"I'm fine." I said reassuringly

"You're worried about Raven aren't you?" She asked

"Yes," I admitted "He is reckless, doesn't think, sometimes let's his anger get the best of him, like his mother I suppose."

I thought about the day I met his father. And I slipped into a daydream.

**15 years earlier: Bob's bait and tackle outdoors and hunting store, Brooklyn New York November 26, 1998**

I reached for the for the hunting bow on the shelf and took it down. I admired it. Excellent craftsmanship, string is perfect. Whoever made this truly put a lot of effort into it. Bob's bait and tackle outdoors and hunting store was a small mom and pop shop. Most of the bows, fishing poles, lures, and anything else you would need in the outdoors were all homemade. I liked coming into this store. I rarely bought anything, but I enjoyed browsing, and the old man, Gerald Davis, who owned it was one of the few men in the last few thousands I could actually stand, he was a true gentleman. His wife had died of a heart attack a few years ago when I first came into the store. He was in danger of going bankrupt and losing everything. I took pity on the old man, and I pulled some, magical strings to get him more business.

"How are you Mark?" I heard Gerald say from the front

"Oh just fine," I heard a male voice reply from somewhere by the door, he sounded very stressed "Got laid off again."

"You have anything else lined up?" Gerald asked

"No, you need any help around here?" Mark asked

"You know me, I always need help around here." Gerald said

Mark laughed.

"That's the truest thing I've heard all afternoon, I should just quit the whole construction thing and come work for you." He said

Gerald laughed too

"Hell, when I pass on, you can have this store, there is certainly a lot of business, you'll make plenty to live off of."

The two men laughed at this. I guessed they were old friends. But the other man, Mark, he sounded young, twenty eight, thirty maybe.

"Well, I can't stay long, I have to finish moving all of my stuff into the apartment, just came by to see if you had any fishing lines left." Mark said

"Sure thing, very back isle, like always." Gerald said

"Thanks." Mark said and I heard him coming towards me

"I just made some new bows if you want to have a go with one out back." Gerald called after him

I stood on my tippy toes attempting to reach the quiver of arrows on the top shelf. I enjoyed spending time at Gerald's target range out behind the shop. But, unfortunately, while I am a goddess, I am a short goddess.

"Sweet," Mark sounded very excited "I'll take a look."

He came around the corner and froze when he saw me. He stared intently as though trying to memorize every last detail of me. He had long brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He was quite tall and muscular.

"H-hi." He stuttered

I said nothing but simply nodded at him. He looked up and noticed what I was reaching for.

"Oh here," He said laughing "I told him he should put these on a lower shelf."

He reached up and took the arrows down and handed them to me. I looked into his eyes. I saw a lot of pain and sorrow in them. But I could also see he was a good man. He had dimples. I could tell he smiled and laughed a lot. He had a tan, and rough calloused hands. And a tattoo on the underside of his forearm. It was a hand, clutching a handful of chains, and on the end of each one of them was a dog tag, with a name, some kind of rank, and two dates. The only one I could read due to the poor lighting was one that said: **Donald Brown, Corporal, 1968-1990. **And it was then I noticed the dog tag around his neck.

"You were a soldier?" I asked him

"Yeah," He said "I was in Desert Storm, I left a few years ago, got hurt during an artillery accident, didn't lose any limbs thank the lord, but I got honorably discharged."

"And the tattoo?" I asked

I thought I may have pushed too far at first, he winced like I had stabbed him. But then he just nodded.

"All of my friends that didn't make it back, eight total, even my best friend Donny, I visit his grave on his birthday every year." He said sadly

"I'm sorry." I told him

"It's fine, I'll see him on the other side, and I can't wait." He said

"I'm sure you will." I told him

I would have to check for a Donny Brown in Elysium when I had a chance, I was pretty sure he had helped me several years ago on a quest to find a missing demigod, clearly he hadn't told this man about his other life. I noticed he was still staring at me intently.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" I asked him

"Ummmm, well forgive me, but ahhh, you are one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met." He said

"One of the most beautiful girls you've ever met." I repeated not quite sure what to do

Normally, I would've turned him into a jackalope but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"Well, I have a dog at home you see," He explained "And I tell her all the time that she is the most beautiful girl I've ever met, and she might get upset if I told another girl that."

I had to laugh at this. I don't know why, but this man was different than the others that I had met.

"What's your name?" He asked me

"Artemis Luna." I said automatically

"Ummmm listen, Artemis, maybe I'm moving too fast, but, would you like to go and get dinner later." He asked nervously

I eyed him. He seemed nervous.

"I don't date." I said flatly

"I get that a lot, but won't you give me a chance?" He asked

His eyes were pleading with me to say yes. And what I did next, I never ever thought I would ever do.

"Where?" I asked him

"The Applebees downtown." He said

"Okay." I said

"I'll see you at seven?" He asked

"Yes, I'll see you at seven." I told him

I returned to my camp still slightly shocked at what I had done. But I couldn't just ditch him, that would make me no better than the types of men I hated. So the least I could do was show up. So I prepared myself. I wore simple jeans and hiking boots and a silver jacket with a fuzzy lining. I stuck my hair in a ponytail. Strapped my dagger under my jacket and emerged from my tent at 7:28.

"Milady, shall we prepare to leave?" Zoe asked standing up

"No, I'm just going to do some hunting alone, I'll be back before long." I told her

She nodded and sat back down. They all went back to what they were doing. I couldn't tell anyone what I was doing. No one. Once I got out of view of the camp, I teleported to where I was supposed to meet Mark. It was 7:35. I stood there outside the Applebees waiting for him. It was almost eight and I was thinking about just going back to the camp when an old Honda civic pulled into the parking spot in front of me. Mark emerged wearing blue jeans, and old pair of Nikes, and an orange sweatshirt.

"Sorry I'm late, my engine gave out on me about halfway here, I had to walk to Auto Zone." He said

"It's fine, have you had your radiator checked?" I asked him

"Yeah," He said "The guy said there wasn't anything wrong with it, but I can tell there is, I just don't know what."

"Pop the hood and start the car." I sighed

He shrugged and opened the hood and started the car. I reached in and fiddled with the radiator, I figured out the problem almost immediately, just some stuff that was loose, and fixed it.

"There," I said popping up "That will hold it."

"Where did you learn so much about cars?" He asked impressed

"Just a hobby of mine." I told him

The truth about that was, I had a hunter a while back. Who knew a lot about cars. She was killed in the Titan war, but she used to talk about cars so much, eventually, I just picked up a lot. Mark smiled and we went inside. We sat over near one of the TV's and watched the football game. The Giants and the Packers. We ordered our food and ate. We talked too. Mark was funny. We had a lot of the same interests, he liked going hunting and fishing whenever he had time. He had grown up without a father, and his mother had died while he was in Iraq. We also found out we both enjoyed football.

"That was a bullshit call." He said

"Absolutely, he was clearly in bounds." I said

"I miss being on the field." He said

"You played football?" I asked him

"Yeah, football, I was the running back, starting varsity." He said proudly

"I always just liked running." I said

"Like track?" He asked

"No, just running." I told him

He looked at me funny, but then just shrugged. Then his eyes widened in excitement.

"They're going for it." He said

I turned and saw that he was right, the score was 44-46 with one second in the fourth quarter left and the Giants were lining up for the kick. A thirty two yard field goal. The entire Applebees went quiet as everyone was locked on the TV. I held my breath, not many people knew I liked football. Zoe did, of course, and Apollo he was the one who introduced me to it. I leaned forward in anticipation.

"Come on, Giants." I begged

Mark laughed. I saw he was leaning forward too, eyes glued to the TV like everybody else, I stared intently. He put his hand up. The ball snapped, he kicked. It sailed through the air. Everyone leaned as far forward as possible. The Applebees was dead quiet, even the servers had stopped. The cooks were all leaning out the door and watching. I was dying in anticipation, this seemed like the slowest ball ever. Then it sailed straight into the goal and the entire Applebees erupted in cheers. Mark cheered next to me, and despite myself, I found myself cheering with him.

"YEAH BABY, WE'RE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS!" Someone screamed next to me

This was met with and even louder round of cheers from the people. Some guy stood up in a manager uniform and called for quiet.

"One round of drinks for everyone, on the house." He announced

The Applebees erupted one more time. And a waitress came over with a tray overflowing with beer. She offered one to me but I declined it. Mark took one. Someone stood up and the Applebees went quiet again.

"Here's to the Giants, this is our year." The man said

Everyone raised their glasses and cheered. Mark drank his and put it on the table.

"That was awesome." He said grinning

"Yes, it was." I agreed

After that we left. When we got out to the parking lot he checked his watch.

"Do you wan't me to drive you home?" He asked "Or do you want to come hang out for a bit?"

I checked the time, it was only 9:30.

"I could stay for a while." I decided.

If I had known what that would have resulted in, I would have left him, and never seen him again. But instead, I went back to his apartment with him.

"Well," He said as we pulled up "Welcome to my shitty palace."

I laughed. We got out and walked upstairs, he unlocked his door and we walked in.

"ROOF!"

Something furry and yellow tackled him.

"Ah Lacy, come on." He said laughing as he pushed himself up

"This must be the prettiest girl in the world." I joked and scratched her between her ears

He plopped down on the couch and turned the TV .

"Hi," I heard someone on the TV say "I'm Johnny Knoxville and this is Jackass." (A/N What, I'm actually watching Jackass right now, I have no idea if it was around in the 90's but I don't give a fuck.)

I sat on the couch next to him. We watched for a few minutes laughing at the stunts.

"Do you wan't something to drink?" He asked

"No, I'm fine." I said

"Alright." He said leaning back into the couch

"So how old are you?" I asked

He laughed.

"Twenty eight, you?" He said

"Twenty six." I said

Whenever I am not with my huntresses, I choose to appear a different age. But, when I am with them, I choose to appear as a teenager. Better people wonder about a group of three dozen girls than wonder about three dozen girls and a twenty year old.

Lacy hopped up onto the couch and laid her head down in my lap. I scratched her ears and she wagged her tail and gave me a kiss.

"She likes you." Mark commented

"Well you know what they say about dog instincts." I said shrugging

"Yeah." He said

Was he leaning? Yes, he was. I thought for a second. My oath? Forget my oath. I couldn't believe how easily I had come to that decision. But again, if only I had known...

I leaned in too and before I knew it, my lips touched his.

**nine months later**

I stood outside the door holding the baby. Raven, I had decided to call him. Because of the mark on his shoulder, I don't know how it got there but as soon as Styx shot the ball at him it showed up. The baby shifted in my arms. He started to cry. But I held him and he stopped.

"I love you my child." I whispered to him

I knocked nervously.

"Coming." A voice said from inside

The door opened and Mark stood there staring at me.

"Artemis." He said in disbelief

"Hi." I said

"Hi," He said angrily "We had sex, you disappeared for nine months and then came back with a baby, and all you have to say is 'hi'."

"Listen, we need to talk." I said

He stood aside and allowed me to come in. I walked into the living room, nothing had changed since I had last been here.

"Now, I owe you an explanation, so here it is," I began "I am the Greek goddess Artemis, the gods have existed and we have moved around-"

I explained everything to him. All of it.

"-And this is our son, I named him Raven because of the mark on his back." I finished

He stared at me. Then nodded.

"I believe you." He said finally

I hadn't thought that it would be this easy. But he took the baby from my arms.

"He will have a heroes fate, and I need to stay as far away from him as possible, for as long as possible." I said

"I understand." Mark said sadly

"Mark, I'm sorry, for all of this, I really am, but I swear to you, I will claim him when the time is right." I said

"I loved you." He said

"I loved you too," I told him "You were the only person who has ever had a child with me, I broke my oath for you."

He nodded. And I gave him one last kiss. Then I looked down at the baby.

"You will be a great hero," I said "And I'm proud to call you a son of Artemis."

**Present day**

I sat on the bunk bed inside the Artemis cabin plucking quietly at my leer. I played a soft harmonic tune. Most of the hunters were asleep, and some were just laying there. When suddenly the door burst open.

"What-?" Thalia said sitting up

Raven staggered in with a cigarette in one hand and a beer can in the other. He looked so much like his father. Except for the completely wasted part. He staggered around and all of the hunters got out of their beds. He flicked his cigarette out the door. He stumbled as he finished his beer but Amber caught him. He threw his backpack onto the bed and I heard the clinking of bottles.

"Thanks." He said to her

"Your bleeding!" She exclaimed

"What happened?" I demanded

"Oh that? That's nothing, the party got busted and some dumbass shot at the cops, so they started shooting at us, and I grabbed a bunch of liquor and weed and hauled ass, got hit in the back." He explained

He took off his sweatshirt and his t-shirt underneath was soaked in blood. One of our healers came up and took his shirt off and started working on the bullet wound.

"I'll have to dig it out." She said

Raven reached inside the bag and handed her a bottle of Jack Daniels.

"Pour some of that on it." He said

She did so and he winced as she dug the bullet out and put some nectar on it. It began to close up right away.

"I almost shot back, but I don't have regular bullets, I should keep at least one clip on me." Raven said

Suddenly, he looked sick.

"Fuck, get me a trashcan." He said

One of the hunters threw him a trashcan and he threw up into it. He made violent retching sounds but eventually he stopped.

"You know," He said looking around at all of us "I love you guys, it's like having a bunch of sisters, and all I had was homies."

Some of the hunters laughed. Then Raven turned to me.

"Even you, I know I don't say it often enough, but I'm glad I have a mom now, I love you, mom." He said pulling me into a hug

When he finally let me go, he staggered over to his bed.

"I'm gonna sleep this shit off." He said crawling into his bed.

He laid in his bed for a minute before turning back over and throwing up in the trashcan again. Then he rolled back over. I sat back down on my bed and the hunters resumed what they were doing. I plucked my leer before remembering a lullaby I used to sing to Raven when he was a baby, I changed tunes on my leer and began to sing softly. One by one, as I sang, the hunters fell asleep.

"_Deep__ in the shadow of the moonlight_

_There lives a beast who feeds off fright _

_Heroes come forth to challenge him to fight_

_Deep in the shadow of the moonlight_

_There lives the son of the light_

_Who shall come forth to lay down his life_

_Deep in the shadow of the moonlight_

_There is born he who can fight the spirit of the night_

_He shall not falter and keep his sword held high_

_Deep in the shadow of the moonlight_

_Lives a hero who is prepared to die_

_Who's mother blessed him with the moonlight's lullaby_"

**Hey guys. Sorry, I know this chapter was kind of slow going, but I promise, next chapter is when it really picks up. Also, please review, flames are acceptable, however, I am declaring the moonlight's lullaby off limits, don't hate on that, hate on everything but that, I spent four hours writing that song. Anyways, I don't own Percy Jackson or anyone associated, blah blah blah blah blah peace out see ya'll in chapter seven.**


	7. Chapter 7: We need a quest

**Hey guys, welcome back. So after a little bit of consideration, I have decided that the lullaby that Artemis sang in the last chapter is going to have a big roll to play later on in the story. So small spoiler. Thanks to Rhino12345 for being the first to review, Appreciate it. But anyways, I don't own Percy Jackson and all that shit. So ladies and gentleman, I give you, chapter seven.**

Chapter 7: We need a quest

Percy:

We hurried to the Artemis cabin. One of the hunters had come to Chiron practically in tears. Annabeth, Frank, and I had been sitting on the porch discussing the recent events when one of the hunters came up and demanded to see Chiron. He came out and asked what was wrong.

"Lady Artemis is gone," She said panicked "And there's ichor all over the bed."

We entered the cabin to find all of the hunters standing around the bed where I guess Artemis had been. They moved aside and we all stared. The sheets were soaked in golden ichor, the blood of the gods, and a hunting knife lay on the bed. One that looked like Artemis's knife, and it was dripping ichor. It looked like a murder scene, and I might've assumed it was, if gods could die. I looked over at Raven. He looked like I had felt when I found out my dad had been taken, like he wanted to throw up and kill something all at the same time.

"Calm down," Chiron said "We must have a war council."

He looked over at Thalia. I wasn't sure how he could act so calm in a situation like this, someone had come into the camp, taken a goddess, and left without waking anybody. If anything, this was a great time to panic. Throw our arms up in the air, run around, riot, burn things. But if we did that, we would be easier to pick off, and I had a feeling that once all of the gods had been capture, whatever was taking them would be coming for us.

"Go and inform the rest of the senior counselors, we will have a war council in thirty minutes." He told Thalia

She nodded and dashed off. Then Chiron turned to the rest of the hunters.

"The rest of you, pull yourselves together," He said "We will find whoever did this."

And with that, he left the cabin in a hurry. We all stared around without any idea what to do. Raven had sank back onto his bunk and was now drinking from a bottle labeled Jagermeister.

"It's ten in the morning." I said sitting down next to him

"So?" He glared at me

"Well, isn't it considered too early to be drinking?" I asked him

"If you're mother had been taken from right under your nose, would there be such thing as too early?" He replied

I shrugged

"I don't drink, much, but yeah I'd probably be wasted by now." I told him

"If I hadn't been drunk, I might've heard something." He said angrily

I felt bad for him. Of course he would blame himself, he came back completely wasted and then his mother was taken. He would probably blame himself either way.

"Raven," Annabeth said soothingly "No one could've done anything, none of the hunters heard it, and they were all sober, you couldn't have done anything."

He nodded and seemed to calm down for the moment. He took another drink from the bottle before stuffing it back into his backpack and kicking it under the bed. He laid his head against the wall and stared at the sky. Thalia walked back in and sat dejectedly on her bunk. I got up to leave. I noticed Frank had already hurried off. Perhaps to prepare for the meeting. Chiron had said that since the Romans didn't belong to Camp Half-Blood, whenever Romans were here, the leaders were welcome at the meetings. Frank, being a Praetor, was considered a leader.

"I'll see you at the meeting." I told Raven as I was leaving

"Wait, I'm going?" He asked shocked

"Yeah, you're the only child of Artemis, that makes you the head counselor." I said

He shrugged and went back to staring at the sky. As Annabeth and I left the cabin, I had an overwhelming feeling that this was going to get a lot worse before it was over.

"I can't believe it, of all the goddesses to get captured, I thought Artemis would be the last one." Annabeth said in disbelief

I nodded. I had thought the same thing. Artemis was tough and fearless. And I never thought she would get taken. If at all, she would at least be the very last one. I wondered if all the places where gods had been taken looked like that. The thought of my father's blood all over a wall made my stomach churn. I shook the thought off. What's done is done, nothing I could do about it. We walked around until we saw several of the counselors walking towards the big house. We trudged across the camp and walked into the rec room. Counselors were everywhere. Raven stood in the corner. Thalia stood next to him. Rachel sat at the head of the table next to Chiron who had compacted himself into his wheelchair.

"Heroes, come to order." He said as Annabeth and I walked in.

The buzz of conversation died down and everyone stared at Chiron.

"We are here to discuss the recent developments in the kidnapping of the gods." He said

"Who is it this time?" Conner Stoll asked

"Artemis." He said

Every single mouth dropped.

"But," Clarisse said "That's impossible, she was here last night."

"She was taken in the middle of the night, none of us heard a thing." Raven said

Everyone looked up at him. Almost as if they hadn't realized he was there.

"Not a thing." Leo said

"No." Thalia said

"Seems a bit suspicious," Will Solace said "Athena goes missing, Raven shows up, more gods go missing, then Artemis goes missing when she is right next to Raven."

It happened faster than any of us could follow. In an instant, Raven had shot across the room, dragged Will out of his chair, slammed him against the wall, and put his gun to Will's chin.

"ARE YOU CALLING ME A TRAITOR?" Raven screamed in his face

"You won't shoot." Will challenged

A clicking sound told the room that Raven had cocked his gun.

"Are you prepared to test that theory?" He growled "I may be a lot of things, but I'm not a snitch, I know who my enemies are."

"Raven, let him go." Chiron said slowly

Raven yanked Will off of the wall and threw him across the room.

"And that goes for the rest of you, next person to call me a traitor, I will put a bullet in your head and I won't lose a bit of sleep over it." He spat at the rest of the room

And with that, he sank back to his corner. Chiron cleared his throat.

"Okay, everyone needs to calm down." Chiron said

"We need a quest." Frank said

"No." Chiron answered flatly

Raven spoke up again. And this time he sounded very very angry.

"When whoever is taking gods can just walk into the camp, take a goddess and walk out without making a sound, it's time for a quest." He said

Chiron seemed to consider this.

"But we would need a prophecy, and a team of heroes." He countered

All eyes turned to Rachel. She hadn't been paying attention. She was playing with one of the ping pong balls. She bounced it up and down off the table. After a second, she realized that everyone was watching her.

"What, you think I can just spit out a prophecy whenever I want to?" She asked

Everyone shifted uncomfortably.

"I guess I could try but don't-" She stopped and sat up straight her eyes glowing green.

_Three hunters, the great seven, and the moonlight's child_

_Shall go forth and enter the forbidden isle_

_Death and pain follow the Raven_

_Attempting to use his soul as payment_

_The sea calls on the hosts of war and death_

_To help him try and save the rest_

_One hero will perish to the spirit of the pit_

_Decide if the power of the moon is a curse or a gift_

_The greatest enemies shall rise_

_Chains broken only if you can slay the night_

_The heroes guided by the moonlight's lullaby_

She collapsed and two demigods caught her. She opened her eyes and stared around at us.

"What did I say?" She asked

Chiron recited the prophecy we had just heard. When he finished, Rachel thought for a moment.

"Well, who all is going?" She asked

"Three hunters for sure."Thalia said

"And the moonlight's child, that has to be Raven." I said

"Or maybe something else." Raven suggested

"No," Chiron said "The prophecy even said 'death and pain follow the Raven' that can't mean anyone else."

Raven sighed. He didn't want to go. He wasn't prepared at all. And he knew it.

"And the sea calls on the hosts of war and death?" Chiron asked

"Maybe," Clarisse said "It's a child of Hades and Ares."

"No, it said host not child, I don't think they have anything to do with demigods." I said

"What about the great seven?" Frank asked

"Us." Annabeth said

"The great seven, that makes sense." Lou Ellen said

"Yeah," Travis said "The seven of the last great prophecy."

"Again?" I complained "Can't I just sit by quietly while someone else fights the unspeakably dangerous unknown."

This caused a few laughs.

"Percy," Chiron said "You are born from a broken oath, the fates still want you dead for it, so no you cannot have a break."

I turned to Raven and grinned.

"Well, it looks like you and I are going to have to get to know eachother a lot better, we're gonna be on a bunch of dangerous quests until we both die, nice knowing you." I said

He laughed. And took his gun out. He offered it to me.

"You cap me, then yourself." He said

"Take the easy way out, nice touch." I said

"Okay, we get it." Clarisse grumbled

Raven grinned and put his gun back into his waistband.

"And what about one hero perishing to the pit?" Raven asked

"A risk we'll have to take, I'm prepared to die for my friends." Thalia said defiantly

"Well, glad that ones settle, I'll roll with it, let's go down fighting." I said

"I'll have to rebuild the Argo II," Leo said "Eleven demigods would be a really powerful smell."

"Agreed," Frank said "One more question, where is the forbidden isle?"

"The Underworld," Chiron said immediately "Or more specifically, Tartarus, the pit itself."

"We-we have to go back there?" Annabeth asked, she sounded absolutely terrified

"I wouldn't make you go back unless it was absolutely necessary." Chiron said

"Look, fuck it, I'll go, yolo right?" He said

"I'm in." I said

"Me too." Frank said

"Why not, could be funish." Annabeth said

"I'm down, let's go find us a pit spirit." Leo said

"Oh fine," Thalia said "I'll go, Raven, you can help me pick two hunters when we get back to the cabin."

"Then you'll have to notify the rest of the seven." Chiron said

Jason, Piper, and Hazel had gone back to camp Jupiter last night. I made a mental note to send an Iris Message to them after this was done. Then I silently cursed myself, I remembered my promise to send Carter one if I found anything out. I had been reminded by the host of war and death line. I had found out so much and forgot to contact him. I should do that before contacting Jason. I ran to my cabin and shut the door. I dug through my nightstand until I had found a drachma. I tossed it into the spring.

"Oh Iris, goddess of the the rainbow, accept my offering." I said and the spring began to glow

"Show me Carter Kane at uhhhh, Brooklyn, New York." I said

An image started to form. Carter was sitting alone on a balcony. Staring at the skyline. He was drinking a coke.

"Carter." I said from behind him

"Holy shit." He said spitting the coke out

It was really entertaining to see it travel down at high speeds. I had to laugh.

"Don't do that to me, you nearly gave me a heart attack." He said

"Sorry, listen I learned a lot about whoever is kidnapping gods." I told him

He sat down on the chair.

"Me too," He said "I figured out that whatever took Sadie only took her because she interfered with the kidnapping of that Athena goddess."

"Okay, so it isn't interested in Egyptians, just Greeks and Romans, well I've figured out what it is." I told him

"Who?" He said suddenly excited

"You ever hear of Tartarus?" I asked him

"That spirit of the pit thing where Greek monsters go?" He guessed

"Yeah, that is what's been taking them, and more gods have gone missing." I said

Then I told him about everything that had happened since our last talk. From when Raven showed up, to the war council.

"And I think," I finished "You are part of the prophecy."

"What?" He said baffled

"It said the hosts of war and death, you said you hosted the war god, now we just need someone who hosts death." I said excitedly

"Walt." He breathed

"Who?" I asked him

"Nothing, I'll explain later, will you get us." He asked

"No," I said "I'll call you when we get close."

I held up my hand. He nodded.

"Okay, well thanks for keeping me updated, I'm worried about Sadie, I know I tease her a lot, but I don't know what I would do if she died." He said

"Don't worry, man," I told him reassuringly "We'll get her back."

"I hope your right." He said

I swung my hand through and cut off the connection.

Raven:

Thalia and I walked back to the cabin discussing who we would take. Since I was a son of Artemis, they all considered me a fully fledged member of the hunt. So Thalia decided that whoever came with us would be both our decisions.

"Amber," She was saying "I think this could be a good learning experience for her, she's pretty new."

Of all the hunters, I had grown closest to Amber in the past few days, I felt immediately protective of her as soon as Thalia mentioned her name.

"Well, this is a really dangerous quest," I pointed out "Shouldn't we bring along a more experienced hunter?"

"Normally, I would agree with you, but she is a promising warrior, and I want her along with us." Thalia said

"Okay, so Amber is coming with us, I think we should take one of your healers." I said

"Jennifer," Thalia said immediately "She's our best healer."

"The nymph?" I asked "She was in that dream I had the day you showed up."

"Yeah, I forgot about your dream, I guess we've got everyone from your dream together." Thalia said

We came up onto the cabin and found Leo inside.

"What are you doing here?" Thalia asked

"Oh just keeping these lovely ladies company, and I have a little present for Raven." Leo said

It was right then that I noticed a small zippo in Leo's hand. He held it out to me and I took it.

"Flick it." He said

I flicked the lighter open, and sparked it. It grew into a sword. It was exactly as the one I had seen in my dream. Right down to the very last detail. Three foot long blade. (A/N It was really difficult to describe it, there was so much detail that I wanted you, the reader, to be able to see, so if you don't remember what it looked like, take yo lazy motherfucking ass back to chapter three and read that shit)

"Thanks, Leo." I said grinning

"No problem, Percy went to send an Iris message to Jason, they'll be here by tomorrow." Leo said

"How long will it take to rebuild the Argo II?" I asked him

"Ehh, a month, give or take, I'll have to add more cabins than last time." He said shrugging

"Well, we got a lot of work to do." I said

"I'm heading to bunker nine right now, starting as early as possible." Leo said

"Alright, I may come by later and help out a bit." I told him

"Don't worry about it, I've got the whole Hephaestus cabin down there starting on it right now, and by the way, I designed that sword like Percy's, if you drop it, it will come back to you." He said with his signature grin

"Alright, that's chill." I said

Leo raced from the cabin and sprinted towards the woods. I turned towards Thalia.

"The floor is your." I told her

She turned to the hunters and cleared her throat. She told them everything that had happened during the war council. The hunters stood in a stunned silence as Thalia recited the prophecy. I chimed in from time to time putting in details that Thalia had forgotten. When we had finished, the hunters just stared. No one moved, no one said a word. They just stared at us.

"So who are you taking?" One of the hunters asked

"Me, Raven, Percy," Thalia began ticking names off on her fingers "Jason, Piper, Annabeth, Frank, Leo, Hazel, Jennifer, and Amber."

"Me?" Amber asked

"Yes, I think this could be a good learning experience, and Jennifer is coming because Raven said we should take a healer, and she is the best healer we have." Thalia said

The hunters just stared. So I decided it was time for my ass to bail.

"I'm going to go start training, like some hardcore gangsta shit." I told them

I walked out of cabin eight and began walking towards Percy's cabin. I had heard that he was the best sword fighter in the camp. So I want him to teach me whatever he can in a month. I don't know what I can do with a sword, but I was ready to find out. I knocked on Percy's cabin and he answered immediately.

"What's up?" He asked me

"I need you to teach me everything that you know about sword fighting." I said

Percy grinned and grabbed Riptide off of his dresser.

"Let's go." He said

I followed him down to the sword arena. When we arrived at the arena there was a few kids practicing. Percy and I went to the center where we had a little bit of room.

"Now, let's just see how much you can do." He said

We sparred for a few minutes. I couldn't believe how quickly swordplay came to me. I slashed and hacked at Percy, he defended but he was slowing. It seemed like I was gaining strength as he was weakening. We fought. The longer we went on, the more viciously Percy attacked me. He still hadn't disarmed me and I hadn't been able to disarm him. All of the kids in the arena stopped and watched us, someone ran up to the camp to tell everyone that the new guy was giving the great Percy Jackson a run for his money. Pretty soon, the whole camp was in the arena watching us. The hunters, Chiron, Rachel, the satyrs, nymphs, everybody.

"Damn your good." Percy said not even stopping his swing

"Thanks, can't believe how quickly this comes, I have no idea what I'm doing." I said throwing his blow aside and attempting to disarm him

"Well keep doing that." Percy said parrying my strike.

He moved in towards me. Riptide was slightly shorter that my blade. Despite how slight the difference was, it still gave Percy an advantage. But I had that little point on the end of my hit, so I pushed it into him, I cut his shirt but not his skin. I pushed him back and used the slight difference in the blade length to keep him away. He tried getting back in but I pushed him with my foot. A lot of the campers were staring wide eyed. Annabeth was absolutely astonished, she had probably never seen anybody take her boyfriend to the limit like this. Even Chiron seemed shocked. Percy kept trying to get back in but I pushed him back. This went on for several minutes before he realized he wasn't going to get back in. So he tried to take my legs out. He swept the flat of his blade at my knees. I jumped the blade and then instinct completely took over at that point. I lashed out with my left foot and caught Percy in his jaw. As he fell backwards I slammed my sword into his and it shot out of his hand and slid a good fifteen or so feet away. When the dust settled, Percy was laying on the ground, my foot on his chest and the tip of my blade at his throat.

"What?" Was all he said

"I have no idea." I said

"That was amazing, Percy, there isn't anything you can teach him." Annabeth said with astonishment

"Indeed, I haven't seen skill like that since far before you, even before Luke." Chiron said

"I really have no idea, I just kind of rolled with the moment, I don't know what I just did." I told him

"Well, you just whipped my ass all over this arena, so at least we can start with that." Percy laughed

I stuck my hand out and helped him up. He picked up his sword.

"Think you could do that again?" He asked raising an eyebrow

I shrugged. Percy took this as a yes and raised his sword. He swung at me and I blocked. I swung and he moved. This time Percy almost got me. He tried disarming me by twisting my blade. But I pulled my sword away and struck back. This time I let Percy have it. I struck viciously, putting more and more ferocity behind each strike. Finally, I got inside Percy's block and disarmed him. I guess most powerful demigods like him might be a little bit upset that I beat them twice. Percy thought it was great. As soon as his sword left his hand he laughed.

"That's awesome." He said

"What's awesome?" I asked confused

"You have beaten one of our greatest sword fighters in the last three hundred years, not only that, you beat him twice." Chiron said

All of the campers started nodding. They were just now realizing I wasn't someone to fuck with. Amazing, I had put my gun to so many peoples heads. On my second day here, I had shot at Conner Stoll for trying to play a prank on me. Hasn't come near me since. But still everyone messed with me, I beat Percy in a sword fight twice, and then everyone realizes maybe you don't want to test me.

"Sorry?" I said not really sure what to say

"Sorry?" Percy laughed "Don't be, keep doing that."

The campers started to clear out. I walked down to the canoe lake to clear my thoughts. As I sat down on the dock, I pulled a cigarette from my basketball shorts. Despite the pleading, Thalia still couldn't get me to stop sagging my pants. It just wasn't comfortable to me. I've worn them like them that for years. Sorry Thalia. I lit my cigarette with the bic I keep in my pocket. I had already checked with Leo and my sword did not stay in regular lighter form if I flicked it. So I still had to stick with regular lighters. I heard Percy come up behind me.

"Yo." I said blowing the smoke out

"Yo." He said sitting next to me

"You want one?" I asked him offering the pack of Marlboro reds

"No, I'm good, for now." He said

"Suit yourself, these little fuckers are sanity savers." I said

Percy laughed at this.

"So," He said "About what happened in the arena, you really have no idea?" He asked

"No." I answered

"Well something like that happened to me when I first got here, but you didn't pour water on yourself." He said

"Nope," I agreed "Like I said, just went with my instincts."

"Well, keep following those, they're good." Percy said seriously

I spit into the water as I took another drag off of my cigarette.

"Listen," I said "I need to know, this quest, one of us is going to die, that's for sure."

"And you're wondering if I have any idea who might end up dying?" He asked

"Yeah, I wondered if maybe we could prevent it." I said

"Listen Raven, you never ever want to try to fight the fates. I promise." He said

"Yeah, so I've been told." I grumbled

"I'll tell you this," Percy said "If it came down to me or one of my friends, I'd throw myself at anything in a heartbeat."

"Me too." I said

"Really?" Percy asked

"I've been told that my fatal flaw is that I would die for love, I don't know if it means the romantic kind, or just friends, but I don't love anyone, so yeah, I'd protect my friends." I said

"You consider us your friends?" Percy asked shocked

"Yeah of course." I said

"Well, it's just, I never thought you would consider us friends." Percy said

"Oh please, this is the only place I have left, what was I supposed to do, spend the rest of my life avoiding you guys?" I said

"True that buddy, true that." Percy said.

"Well, we need to go get ready, we leave in one month, and we're going to keep you in tip top sword fighting shape." Percy said

I laughed. It was going to be a long month, but I couldn't wait for it to be over. I was going to fuck Tartarus's shit up.

One month later: 3rd person view

The demigods all stared as Leo's newly finished Argo III stood docked in the center of the camp. They all watched as the demigods of the prophecy boarded the ship. Percy, Annabeth, Jason, Piper, Leo, Frank, Hazel, Thalia, Jennifer, Raven, and Amber. Leo gave Calypso a quick kiss before boarding the Argo III.

"Promise you'll come back to me." Calypso said

"Of course, I always do." Leo grinned

And with that, he boarded the Argo III and the demigods all waved as the ship rocketed into the sky. The demigods below cheered screaming insults at Tartarus. Even though a lot of the demigods didn't think that anyone of them would make it back. Over the past month, the remaining gods had been captured. But the quest had finally begun. And the Argo III was soaring over Long Island sound, with thousands of demigods screaming behind it, a battle cry that might've made Tartarus turn and run had he been there. But he wasn't there, he was simply watching them.

"Soon demigods, soon," He mused "I will have my revenge, come, come and face the pit."

**Ah ha. Chapter seven is done. Again, let's get some reviews rolling, let me know how it is, blah blah blah. I don't own Percy Jackson. And I'll see yall niggas in chapter eight.**


	8. Chapter 8: Onward to the forbidden isle

**So the quest is officially underway. Our eleven heroes are going to kick some ass. One of them is going to die at the hands of Tartarus. But who? Can Raven actually beat Tartarus? Some think he can. Some think he can't. But the only thing that truly matters is what he believes. But that's just the problem. Even he doesn't believe he can do it. So, let's stop all the spoiler alerts however small they may be. And uh, you know, go ahead and review, flames and suggestions are accepted. I don't own Percy Jackson. And let's have at it.**

Chapter 8: Onward to the forbidden isle

Amber:

We all sat in the mess hall. Leo had built the Argo III to resemble the Argo II but it was much bigger. It had four extra cabins, and twice as many weapons. In fact, if we could keep it intact for the rest of this quest, and get back without destroying it, it could be used to fight any enemies that rise against the gods. Thalia said it would have been helpful to have this ship during the titan war. I wasn't around but Percy said a lot of demigods died. Jason said a lot of demigods died on the Roman side too. He told us of a friend of his who had been stabbed by a sword from a shade. And how he died slowly and painfully while Jason watched.

"Wow, I don't think even I can top that." Percy said

"Silena Beauregard." Annabeth said

"No, she just died painfully, it wasn't really that slow, it was slow but not as slow as getting stabbed by a shade." Percy said

"Well, so in the realm of friends who died slow sad deaths, Jason wins." Leo said

We all laughed.

"Nah I can top it." Raven said

"Okay try for it." Jason said

"When I was thirteen, my friend Free had a brother. He was seventeen. And they went out one day to do something. They never told us what. But about an hour later, he came staggering back into the culdesac where we lived. He had like six bullets in him." Raven said

"Tough kid." Percy said

"Yeah, well some people would rather die than go to jail," Raven shrugged "Anyways, before we could even move, he fell down, and then the cops were all up on him. They took him to a hospital. And he was there for days. But he wouldn't recover. They said he had just lost the will to live. And so for the next week we just watched him slowly wither away, and then one day, he just went to sleep and never woke up. And the reason that he died is because the cops offered some kid cash straight up, for names. And he gave them some."

"Wow, okay, you win." Jason said

Raven shrugged. Over the past month, I had trained Raven in all of the techniques of being a hunter that I had known. Thalia had been training him too. And some of the Hecate kids had been teaching him to use his gift, or curse, he still hadn't decided. He could now wield it fluently now. We had figured out he was actually wielding the moon. It was like silver flames but he could make it take other forms. He could shoot it in beams, or silver balls, or make it into a shield like object, or a protective bubble. One of our best archers had taught Raven several tricks with a bow. And now he could shoot up to six hundred yards and hit a bulls eye every time. he had trained hard, and as much as possible. He was the most vicious fighter I had ever seen.

"Well, I'm going to bed." Raven said getting up

"Right after you smoke like six bowls." Frank said

"Yeah, right after that." Raven agreed

He went to his cabin and the rest of us finished dinner and cleared out. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The nightmares came instantly. I was walking in a long tunnel. Underground. I hated underground. I always had. Most of the nightmares started out underground. In tunnels, bunkers, or just in a hole. It was my own personal hell. I saw a small light at the end and I started to walk towards it. As I neared I heard the sound of swords. I could make out three figures fighting. As I got closer, I had a horrible realization that it was Percy, Jason, and Leo. Frank was laying on the ground with one of his own arrows in his chest. Blood was pooling around him. Hazel was on her knees next to his body crying. Annabeth and Piper were attempting to stop the boys. Thalia was holding down Raven. She had him tied to the mast of the Argo III. He was straining against the ropes, growling, his silver irises had turned blood red. I noticed Percy, Jason, and Leo's eyes looked the same. Then I noticed Jennifer's body laying on the ground. Her throat was slit and she was staring at the night sky.

"You will all die, nothing can save you." Raven hissed in a voice that did not belong to him

Percy screamed in the same voice. But this time in pain. I turned just in time to see Jason ripping his sword from Percy's chest. As Percy fell I could see he wasn't dead. Leo changed this fact very quickly. Annabeth screamed as Leo brought his hammer down on Percy's head. I heard a sickening crack as Percy's skull was crushed. Blood was coming fast from his hairline where Leo had hit him.

"PERCY! NO!" Annabeth screamed

She sunk to her knees cradling his head in her lap. Sobbing at the broken form of her boyfriend. Leo and Jason had resumed battle. Raven was still straining against the ropes. I realized the scar on his left eye had been reopened. Blood soaked his face. Piper was still attempting to stop the boys.

"Stop! Please!" She begged them

Jason backhanded Piper and sent her falling to the deck. Jason and Leo clashed swords. Then I heard a ripping sound. Raven had torn away the ropes and pulled his lighter from his pocket. It became a sword. Thalia attempted to stop him. But with more speed than I had ever seen. He threw her knife aside and shoved his sword through her chest. Blood soaked her shirt as she fell to the deck. Jason and Leo had not noticed Raven yet. Jason tried to stab Leo but he moved to the side and swung his hammer down. I heard a crack as Jason's arm broke. He drew back but Leo's hammer caught his knee. His knee snapped. Leo stood over him grinning triumphantly.

"Finally, you think you're better than me, but now I don't have to live in your shadow anymore." He said in the same voice that Raven and Percy had spoken in

And still with that same maniac grin plastered onto his face. He brought the hammer down on Jason's head. There was another crunch as Jason's skull was smashed. Leo stood for a moment confused. Then Raven's sword passed through his neck. And his head left his shoulders and rolled across the deck. His body collapsed. Raven grinned like a maniac. Then his eyes returned to their normal silver color and the look on his face became horrified. He stared around at the carnage.

"What have I done?" He asked as tears began to stream down his face

His voice was back to normal. As he spoke, a figure began to form on the deck. A man, slightly bigger than Raven. He was muscular and his skin was purple. He word standard Greek armor. But instead of bronze, it was jet black. His eyes were solid red. No irises. Raven shook with anger.

"What have you done?" He said mockingly in the same voice that Raven had been speaking in just a few moments earlier "You have battled your friends and earned the right to face me."

"You," Raven spat with anger "You made me kill my friends, I'll-I'll kill you."

The man laughed and drew his sword. At first, I thought maybe it was Stygian iron, but then I realized it was a jet black blade. There was faces in the blade. Straining almost as if they were trying to get out. He raised the sword.

"Come," He said "Avenge your fallen friends."

I knew what was going to happen before it even happened. I wanted to shout at Raven to stop. But I couldn't. My voice wouldn't work. I couldn't move. He charged the man yelling defiantly. Their blades crossed and the man pulled his sword back and stabbed Raven. Raven slumped forward as the man kicked him away. Raven fell to the deck. He stilled. Blood began to flow around his body. And the man looked straight at me.

"A glimpse of things to come, little hunter." He said as he exploded in a supernova

I shot up in my bed in a cold sweat. I was shaking. I hated nightmares. But this one had seemed so real. They hadn't bothered me since the day I joined the hunters. Except for the dream I had about Raven. But that wasn't really a nightmare. I got up and left my cabin. I walked up to the deck to get some air. I saw Raven sitting on the railing at the front of the ship. I realized he was smoking. The smell blew back and I realized he was just smoking a cigarette. I walked up to him soundlessly.

"Can't sleep?" I asked

"Nope." He answered

I was shocked he didn't jump. I hadn't made a sound. Or at least, I don't think I did.

"What about you?" He asked

"Nightmares." I said taking a seat next to him

"Me too." He sighed

"What about?" I asked

"Same stuff, fighting Tartarus, then he stabs me and I wake up." Raven said with a shrug

"Me too, only this was a lot worse." I told him

I told him everything about my dream. When I finished he nodded.

"Tartarus wasn't purple the first time I had the dream. But now, whenever I have it, his skin is purple." Raven said

"Maybe it's because you didn't know what he looked like before." I said

"I don't know, but I hope he can't control us like that." Raven shuddered

"Me too." I said

He offered me his cigarette but I declined. Instead we just stared at the night sky. I watched as his silver eyes gazed at the moon. I never would've thought Raven to be a sappy kind of person. But now, he didn't look at all like the hardcore gang banger that I had seen in those visions on Mount Olympus. Nor like the angry kid who had pointed a gun at Thalia. He looked at peace with himself. The scar on his left eye just made him even more mysterious. He radiated a kind of sadness. The kind that just made you want to reach out and hug him. But he also radiated a kind of power too, the type that made you scared to try to hug him.

"The moon has always comforted me, when I'm sad, scared, lonely, the moon always feels like there is someone there for me." He said

"Your mother." I stated

He nodded.

"Do you ever wonder what your purpose is?" He asked

"All the time." I told him

"I feel like I'm just wandering around looking for something that isn't there." He said

I nodded. I knew exactly how he felt. I felt the same thing all the time. But I joined the hunters and felt like I had a purpose. But then, after a while, I started to wonder, is this really what I'm meant for?

"I feel like this is my only purpose, to just be a pawn of Olympus." He said bitterly "To just come running every single time they have a problem."

"Most demigods feel like that." I told him

"Yeah, I know, where do you think I got the wording." He said

I had to laugh. Sometimes you just can't help it.

"I promise," I told him "You'll be a great hero, even Percy says so, you'll rise above all others, you'll do things that no hero has done."

"Real high on my list of goals." He said

We stared at the moon for a few more minutes before he spoke again.

"Why does my mother hate men?" He asked

"Not all men." I said

"I'm her son, I don't count." He laughed

"Okay," I began "She only hates men that are, selfish, arrogant, sexist, lustful, disrespectful towards women, and violent."

"So...all men?" Raven summed up

"No, just most men." I said with a giggle

"Why are her hunters expected to follow her same oath, especially now that she's broken it?" He asked

"That one, I have no answer for." I sighed

Truthfully, I had wondered the same thing myself. Especially after Raven showed up. Why should we follow and oath that Lady Artemis had already broken. She had forced girls out of the hunt for falling for men for fifteen years knowing she had broken the same oath that they were being punished for breaking. Raven didn't ask to be born, and he didn't ask to be born a son of Artemis, but some of the other hunters resented him. If any man on the planet had yelled at Artemis the way he did. Or said some of the things that he had said to her. She would've blasted them on the spot. If any hunter had done those things, they would be forced out in shame if they weren't killed. And Raven had said those things to her and gotten away with it. The sun had risen and the morning light shined on the deck of the Argo III. We weren't even out of Manhattan yet. The ship had some problems about six miles out of the camp. So we had been stuck above the city. Luckily, Leo had rigged a mist camouflage so advanced that no mortal could even see the ship. Then he had decided to call it a night. And the ship had not moved. We were suspended above a section of apartment buildings. Leo had decided to go into the city today and collect the rest of the supplies he needed to fix the ship. As the light was shining down on us I heard a growling sound.

"What was that?" Raven said spinning and drawing his sword

Six hellhounds stood on the deck of the Argo III. They eyed us as though we were their next meal. I drew my bow as the attacked. Raven vaporized one and I shot another with an arrow. Two more pounced and Raven vaporized one but the other caught him. He was pinned to the deck trying to force the thing off of him. It was about to bite down onto his neck when an arrow protruded from it's side. It turned to dust and I saw Frank standing on the deck with his bow. Jason and Percy were going after the other two hellhounds. Percy vaporized his but the one Jason was after leaped of the side of the ship and disappeared in a black portal. Raven pulled himself up and stared around.

"Thanks bro, nice timing." He said to Frank

"Yeah well, how did they get up here?" Frank asked

"No idea, we were just talking and then we heard them." Raven shrugged

"Maybe because we stayed in one place too long, they were able to get a lock on us." Leo suggested

"All the more reason to fix the ship and get the hell out of here." Percy said

"Well, let's have breakfast and then we'll go." Annabeth said

We all went into the mess hall to eat. We were in there for a long time. When Leo checked his watch and saw that it was almost noon we decided to leave. As the rope ladder came down Percy leaned over the railing.

"Hey, that's my apartment building." He said with excitement

Then he frowned and stared at something in the parking lot.

"Uh oh." He said

"What?" Annabeth asked

Whatever Percy saw she saw it too. They exchanged a glace as Percy eyed the parking lot.

"I thought you said it got destroyed." Annabeth said

"I guess he had insurance." Percy said

"But he got turned to stone."

"A lot of people came back when Gaea opened the doors of death, maybe he was one of them."

We all slid down the rope ladder until we were standing in the parking lot. Percy walked over to a car.

"Yep, that's his, there beer cans all over the inside." Percy said peering into the window of a blue Camaro

Raven:

We walked up to the front of the building. We saw a pudgy bald guy yelling at two people. A man and a woman. As we got closer, I could hear what they were saying.

"I don't care who you are," The fat guy said "But this is my house, and my girl, so get the hell out of here."

"Sally is my wife, and this is not your house, you need to leave." The man said angrily

"Paul." The woman, Sally, said putting a hand on his shoulder

"GABE!" Percy screamed across the parking lot

The pudgy bald guy turned around and then suddenly filled with anger.

"You," He spat at Percy "You little bastard."

Percy approached Gabe fast. Jason got in front of him when he was about three feet from the guy.

"Perce," He said "Calm down alright, the guy ain't worth it."

"Who the hell are you? I ought to knock you out right here you little punk." Gabe said

"Get the fuck out of here." Percy spat seething with rage

"Yo dog, chill." I told Percy

"Yo dog," Gabe mocked me "Who are you? pull your damn pants up, and who are all these little whores you've brought with you?"

Piper, Annabeth, Hazel, Amber, and Thalia all stood in front of us. It took Hazel, Jennifer, and Thalia to hold Frank back. Amber was standing in front of me. And Piper was holding Leo and Jason. And Annabeth was doing all she could to keep Percy away from Gabe.

"You know what nigga?" I hissed "You about five seconds from getting the fucking shit beat out of you, I'd close your mouth."

"Gabe, get out of here." Sally said

But Gabe paid her no attention. He stared at us.

"What?" He mocked "You think I'm supposed to be scared of you guys, I'll take all of you out with one hand."

"How about we test that theory." Jason suggested while trying to push past Piper

"Oh shit," I said suddenly pretending to be distracted "Is that Camaro yours?"

"Yeah what about it?" He asked

"What's under the hood?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

"Dick," I muttered "That really is your car?"

"Yeah." he answered clearly annoyed

I pulled my gun from my waistband and pointed it at his car. I had a regular clip in it so I had to be careful. I let the whole clip fly at the car. Knocking out all of the windows, and making the two driver side tires flat. I also riddled the paint with several holes. Then I turned to look at Gabe.

"Now get the fuck in it, and drive away." I told him

"Or what?" He asked

I grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him close. He was at least a good five inches shorter than me. He smelled like alcohol and tobacco. And I mean straight reeked. But despite all that I put my gun to the bottom of his chin.

"Or next time, it's you." I hissed

And with that I threw him backwards towards his car. He scrambled to his feet and hurried to his car. I heard the sound of metal on asphalt as he pulled out and his flat tires scraped against the concrete.

"That was awesome." Jason said

"I still wish you would've let me hit him." Percy grumbled

"Nah man, we on a dangerous quest, can't have you going to jail on us." I said

"Dangerous quest?" Sally asked

"Yeah, kind of forgot to tell you, all of the gods have been kidnapped by the spirit of the pit and we are on our way to rescue them and we all could die if Raven doesn't beat Tartarus." Percy said sheepishly

"No pressure or anything." Leo joked patting me on the back

"Percy, why do you always go on these quests?" Sally asked

"Actually, it's not really my choice." Percy shrugged

Sally looked ready to strangle her son. Couldn't blame her, he was really infuriating sometimes.

"What about Gabe?" Sally asked

"Probably came back when the doors of death were opened." Annabeth told her gently

"Come inside and we can talk." Paul said

We walked up the stairs into the apartment. It had a cozy little feel to it. Sally led us to the living room then demanded that Percy explain everything. And so he did. He recited the prophecy to her. Then told her of everything that had happened since I showed up at the camp.

"A son of Artemis?" Sally asked "But that's impossible." Sally said with disbelief

"We didn't believe it either," Thalia said "But it's true, look at his eyes."

I took my Compton snapback off and showed Sally and Paul my eyes. They looked shocked staring into the silver irises. I couldn't blame them, my eyes had always baffled people. But at least now I had an explanation, kind of.

"We need to get going quickly though." Leo said

"Okay yes, Paul can you take Leo to the Home Depot so he can get the parts he needs?" Sally asked

"Yeah." Paul answered grabbing his keys

"Jennifer and Frank, will you guys come with me?" Leo asked

They nodded and got up. As they walked out the door, Leo said something that made Frank turn green.

"Are you sure?" I heard him whisper urgently

I didn't hear Leo's answer because right then the door shut. It appeared I was the only one who heard the conversation. We sat and talked for a while. Sally seemed nice enough. She and Thalia had fun teasing Percy and Jason together. Suddenly, out of nowhere, I just got this feeling. And everything I was about to do, everything that I had to do, just all came crashing down on me at once. I couldn't stand it anymore. I walked over to one of the windows and threw it open. I stepped out onto the fire escape. I climbed to the top of the building. Then stood on the edge staring down at the cars below. I lit a cigarette shakily and sat down with my feet dangling off of the edge.

"Why did you follow me up here?" I spat

Amber sat down next to me.

"Because I sensed something was wrong by the way you just up and left." She said

"Everything just came crashing down, I can't do it." I said

"Raven, we all believe in you." She said gently

"I don't believe in myself, I wish this was just as simple as get some guys together and shoot someone." I said

"Well, you're a son of Artemis, you are powerful, if anyone can beat Tartarus, it's you." She said

"I'm scared, Amber," I said "For the first time in my entire life, I'm scared."

"I would be shocked if you weren't, We're all scared, we haven't even left Manhattan yet, and we're all scared." She reasoned

I thought about what she said. I knew the others on the Argo III were scared. I thought about the lullaby my mother had sang the night she went missing. And the prophecy, it said we would be guided by the moonlight's lullaby. Then suddenly I realized something.

"Deep within the shadow of the moonlight." I said

"What?" Amber asked looking at me like I was crazy

"It means deep within me was the power of the moon, this power is a gift, it brings out the hero in me," I said "The prophecy said I would be guided by the moonlight's lullaby, well It's guiding me."

"That's genius." Amber said

"So we've decided the power was a gift." I said

"Now we just have to go to the forbidden isle, then defeat Tartarus and rescue the gods." She said with mock excitement

"Fantastic." I agreed

"Nico said there was a portal directly to Tartarus in Death Valley." Amber said

"So we just have to get there." I sighed

This would be much easier said than done. But As I thought about this I saw Paul's prius pulling into the parking lot. I flicked my cigarette and we got up and went down the fire escape. Arriving back into the apartment just as Leo and Frank were entering followed by Jennifer and Paul.

"I'll take this stuff out there right now and get to work," Leo announced "We'll be out of here in an hour."

"Sound's good." Piper said

"Death Valley, here we come." Jennifer agreed taking a seat

Leo and Frank hurried outside with the supplies to begin their work on the Argo III. Sally decided to order a pizza. She soon found out, ten demigods and a nymph were a very hungry bunch. By the time the pizza got here, Percy, Jason, and I had raided the fridge, taken food to Frank and Leo, and then devoured everything we'd taken. And we still had five pizzas on the way. Hazel was entertaining herself by making stones float around the room. Eventually, she had three or four of them racing each other while Annabeth, Thalia, Jennifer, Piper, and Amber cheered them on. When the pizza guy arrived, Sally went to go get her purse.

"Don't sweat it, I got it." I said pulling a wad of money from my pocket and tossing it to the pizza guy

"Where did you get all that money?" Percy asked after the guy left

"You don't want to know." I said

"Actually I do." Percy said

We had a silent conversation from across the room. Then Percy's face broke into a huge grin.

"You didn't." He said as the realization dawned on him

"Oh, but I did." I said mischievously

"What?" Paul asked

"He stole Gabe's wallet." Percy said with admiration

This was met with a chorus of applause from the demigods seated around the living room. Sally and Paul just shook their heads but they were smiling. Frank and Leo had come in from the ship and announced that they were almost done.

"It helps when you have an elephant." Leo said to Frank

"Or an iguana." Frank suggested

"No, only when you need to escape chinese handcuffs." Leo joked

I was confused. Apparently Jennifer, Amber, Thalia, Sally, and Paul were too, but Jason, Leo, Piper, Frank, Hazel, Percy, and Annabeth all erupted with laughter.

"Oh my gods," Hazel said through her laughter "Leo, that was so cruel and funny at the same time."

Frank was laid out on the arm of the couch shaking with fits of laughter. Percy and Jason were using each other for support trying not to fall over. Leo was on the ground. Annabeth and Piper were giggling feverishly.

"Oh gods," Percy said catching his breath "I haven't laughed that hard in a long time."

"Me neither." Piper said still giggling

"My guess is something that happened on your big doors of death quest?" Paul asked

"Yep," Jason said "Frank stole a pair of chinese handcuffs then he couldn't get out of them so he just turned into an iguana."

"I didn't steal them," Frank protested "She said take them."

"Wait, you can turn into animals?" Sally said

"Yeah, ancient family gift." Frank said

And with those words he turned into an iguana (which brought another round of laughter) and then back to another human. Sally looked like she was about to faint. This might've been just a little bit too much for her. Leo raced off to finish the last few touches on the Argo III before we were ready to depart again. Sally excused herself and Paul turned on the TV and found a game on.

"Seven drachmas on Brooklyn." Percy said dropping a handful of gold coins onto the coffee table

"Oh you're so on," Frank said dropping some coins "Chicago for sure."

"Yeah," Jason agreed putting some coins on the table "Chicago."

"Nah, gotta be Brooklyn." I said throwing down a handful of coins.

With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, Nets trailing by two points. I figured it was a safe bet, they were running strong on defense.

"Really, Percy?" Paul said "your mother would kill me if she saw me letting you gamble."

"Oh come on, Paul," Jason said "You know you want to take us."

Paul checked to make sure Sally was still gone before replying.

"Ten bucks on Brooklyn." He said tossing a ten dollar bill on top of the pile of drachmas

"I don't have any mortal money." Frank said

"I'll raise you to twenty." Jason said throwing a twenty dollar bill on the table

"Deal." Paul said throwing in another ten

"You're all idiots," Thalia said throwing a small leather pouch onto the table "Thirty drachmas on Chicago."

"Twenty drachmas and sixteen mortal dollars on Brooklyn." Jennifer said throwing in her bet

Annabeth rolled her eyes and Percy pulled her close as we watched the game. Ten seconds to go Nets got the ball. They shot but it missed.

"Hell yeah," Jason said as the Bulls grabbed the ball "Pay up."

"Hold up," Percy said leaning forward

The Bulls passed the ball. But one of the Nets players jumped up and grabbed the ball and threw it up before coming down. He was just outside the three pointer line. The ball sailed up. The buzzer rang. And the ball went straight into the net. Percy, Paul, Jennifer, and I jumped up and cheered.

"Fucking A" I said giving Percy a high five

We collected and divided our winnings. Then Sally came back in.

"What are you guys yelling about?" She asked

"Nothing?" Percy and Paul said quickly

Sally eyed Percy with that motherly 'I know that's not true' eye that my mother gave me sometimes.

"His fault." Percy and Paul said at the same time pointing at each other

Leo saved us by suddenly coming through the door.

"Ship is finished, repairs are done, we can leave whenever." He said wiping his hands on his shirt

"Now's good." Percy said

"Alright then," Leo said clapping his hands together "Let's go fight an impossible enemy."

We all stood up and said our goodbyes. Sally pulled Percy into a hug.

"I'm not going to say be safe," She said "Because I know that you won't."

"Of course not." Percy said

"Don't worry, we won't let him fight the dangerous monsters." Hazel said

"Oh now that isn't fair." Percy complained

"Get used to it." Leo said clapping him on the back

We all laughed and filed out the front door. The walk over to the Argo III was dead silent. It felt real to us now. Even when we left Camp Half-Blood, it hadn't seemed like it was really happening. Now, as we sat off towards our ship, it truly felt real, we were going to fight Tartarus and all of his bloodthirsty minions. The sun was setting so we had to move fast if we wanted to be out of New York by nightfall. We climbed the rope ladder and boarded the ship. Leo hopped onto the control pad as soon as we got onto the ship. And the Argo III rocketed into the sky for the second time, and this time, no stops intended.

**Yeah, I know, I'm such a dick. I said quest and they just spent the whole time at Percy's apartment, slow going chapter. But things will pick up next chapter. Promise. Really this time. We are nearing the end of our story. Maybe four or five chapters left. Maybe more. Anyways review and tell me how it was. Blah blah blah ya'll know the drill. Peace out.**


	9. Chapter 9: The golden mask returns

**Okay guys. I'm back. Now in addition to this, I'm now working on the first chapter of a fanfic for The Sisters Grimm by Micheal Buckely (Sorry if I misspelled that) By the way, if you haven't read The Sisters Grimm, I very highly recommend it. Probably one of the best book's I've ever read. So I would urge you to give it a read. Especially before you read my fan fiction because most of it won't even make sense. Have not decided on a name. But I'll keep you guys up to speed on that one. So now back to our eleven heroes. Last we saw them they were taking off one more time for an epic adventure. I know I'm slow, it took nine chapters for them to actually get going. But it's all good. They're gone now, and ready to fight. Or as ready as you can be when you're going to fight the god of the pit. So as usual, I don't own Percy Jackson, please review, flames and suggestions accepted. And to everyone who has stayed tuned in, thank you.**

Chapter 9: The golden mask returns

Piper:

"Okay guys," Thalia said "We're in Indiana, we're making progress."

I appreciated her trying to lift our spirits. But it was to no avail this time. Tartarus had been sending monsters after us ever since we left New York. We knew we would be attacked, but this was flat out ridiculous. Leo was now nursing a black eye. Percy had a broken elbow, but it was healing thanks to the ambrosia. But he still couldn't move it. Annabeth had a twisted ankle and a concussion. I myself had been shot in the arm by an arrow. Raven had been bitten by a telkhine. Thalia and Frank had been gassed by some sort of tiger like monster. It had been a rough few days. Raven had he worst of all. It seemed like Tartarus knew that he was the one who would challenge him. Every time a hoard of monsters attacked, the bulk of them attacked Raven. It was scary to watch Raven fight. It was like when you looked into his eyes, he wasn't a human, he was a wild animal. He fought with such viciousness that I had never seen before. Each time he killed another monster, he seemed to draw strength from them. As though he was absorbing their years of experience and using it against them. I hoped Raven never turned against us.

"Yeah, progress, really really slow progress." Leo grumbled

"We'll be fine," Percy said "We've made it through-"

He had almost been about to say that we had been through worse. But we hadn't been through anything like this. I would almost rather fight Gaea again than do what we had to do. Then we had to think about Raven. Everyone had talked like this would be a combined effort. But even Tartarus himself had made it very clear. By sending his monsters to attack us and most of them going after Raven, he was the only one worthy of fighting The Pit. Everyone knew that when it came down to the final battle, it would be Raven against Tartarus. There would be no one to save either of the two.

"-Bad situations before." Percy settled after a brief pause

"Percy's right," I said putting just a little bit of charmspeak into my voice. "We can do this, they won't know what hit them."

Everyone smiled just a little bit. I was doing all that I could to help keep the morale up. But it wasn't working. They were all looking just as defeated as I felt.

"We're all just worried." Raven said

There was some dejected nods from the demigods. Suddenly the ship rocked sideways. I knew what that was.

"Fucking monsters again." Percy growled standing up

"Nah man, you take a break, you've taken the last few, come on Raven, you and me got this." Jason said

Raven pulled his gun from his waistband and followed Jason up the stairs.

"So, while they're taking care of that," Jennifer said "Let's talk about what we're actually going to do when we get to Tartarus."

"I honestly had no idea we would even make it this far." Leo said shrugging

I glared at him. But he did have a point. I heard gunshots from above. And then a clap of thunder. Percy was still putting away pizza. This conversation wasn't bothering him. He looked at me.

"Is it possible you could charmspeak Tartarus?" He asked

I hadn't thought of that. It seemed like a good idea. But could I actually do it?

"I don't know," I admitted "But if I can, maybe we might stand a chance."

Jason and Raven came back down the stairs. Raven had a busted lip and a bruise on his cheek. Jason's shirt was sliced to bits but other than that he was unharmed.

"Fucking hellhounds, these things are annoying they're like big ass chihuhuas." Raven said as Jennifer rushed the boys with ambrosia and nectar

"Never heard anyone compare a hellhound to a chihuhua." Percy said laughing

"Yeah well, those things are some pesky little bastards." Raven grumbled

"Hold still." Jenifer ordered him dabbing a cloth of nectar at his split lip

"Ah fuck that stings." He exclaimed

"I know, but just hold still." She said gently

When she was finished she and Raven sat down. Jason had collapsed, exhausted, into his chair at the table and was now chugging water. He had removed his camp shirt and just put on his hoodie. As we watched in amazement as he chugged his cup again. Then asked for water. The cup refilled and he chugged that too.

"Slow down man, you're drinking enough to drown me." Percy said

"Hellhounds," He gasped "Really, really fast."

And with that said, he chugged another cup of water before dropping his cup onto the table and collapsing back into the chair. Slowly, Jason's breath came back.

"Yo son," Raven asked "You good?"

"Fuck no," Jason said weakly "You?"

"I could go another round or two." He answered with a shrug

"How about this, you against me, Thalia, and Annabeth all at the same time." Percy suggested

"Thalia using bow or spear?" Raven asked

"Spear." Thalia answered

"Hmmmm," Raven said thoughtfully "Long weapon, short weapon, and a sword, could be fun, let's go."

We all walked to the training room that Leo had set up inside the back. It had an archery range, straw dummies, the works. Percy, Raven, Thalia, and Annabeth walked over into a small circle that had been drawn into the floor for sword fights. Raven took a stance. Annabeth drew her knife. She had lost her old one in Tartarus, but Leo and Percy had made her a knew one for a birthday gift. Thalia drew a spear. And Percy drew Riptide. Raven flicked his lighter and his blade came out. Just seeing it struck fear in any of his enemies. The celestial bronze fused with stygian iron. You could see the silver around the rim of the blade. And then that tip on the end. Celestial bronze tipped with silver. It was a weapon that struck fear in even me, and I wasn't even fighting him. Then you got your look at the wielder. Five foot nine, wicked scar on his left eye, sometimes you saw his FJC scar and the Raven brand. Muscular, he had gotten even more muscle as he trained. Raven looked like a kid her dad would tell her to stay away from because you could tell he was a thug.. He was still slightly smaller than Percy or Jason, but he was still bigger than average fifteen year old.

"Ready?" Percy asked

Raven nodded and I saw Frank and Leo exchange handfuls of drachmas. Then the battle began. Percy lunged and at the same time Annabeth moved in from the side. Raven intercepted Annabeth's blade and kicked Percy in the stomach. Then Thalia was coming from behind. For a second, I thought three might be too much for him to handle. But then, he swept Annabeth's blade to the side and did a full 360 and the heel of his Nikes caught Thalia in the jaw. She stumbled back as Raven turned again to Annabeth. They began a vicious fight. And then Percy and Thalia joined in. Raven was holding his own, but it was clearly an effort. He was dodging and ducking and slashing and kicking. Then he gained an advantage. He swept Percy's feet out from under him. Which caused Percy to topple into Thalia making it one on one against Annabeth. She attacked with her knife but he used his longer blade to keep her at bay. Then he disarmed Annabeth and stuck the blade to her throat.

"Good one, I thought we had you there for a sec." Annabeth said grinning

"Yeah, me too." Raven laughed

Percy and Thalia got to their feet laughing. Raven's sword turned back into a lighter. I saw a disgruntled looking Leo give Frank a few gold drachmas. Hazel and Amber watched them. Jennifer went to work immediately fussing over the four demigods and attempting to heal any wounds that they had sustained.

"Well, that was great exercise," Raven said "Now we can-"

He stopped as the ship rocked again. But this time very hard, as though something bigger had slammed into it.

"Did the autopilot just crash us into a building?" Jason asked standing from one of the benches.

"I don't know but we need to go check that out." Leo said frowning

And with that, the eleven of us drew our weapons and raced for the stairs.

Leo:

We arrived at the top of the stairs and saw a bunch of dolphins ransacking the Argo III. I looked around and saw a canopy of trees on all sides of us. Not a single buildling in sight.

"Oh no, not him again." Jason groaned

"Who?" Amber asked

"Chrysaor," Percy growled "That gold obsessed bastard."

We rushed into the crowd of dolphins. I had my hammer out and was vaporizing them like nobody's business. But as fast as we took them out, more kept coming. The golden boy himself was still nowhere to be seen. I saw Jason go down under a wave of dolphin warriors. Raven was like an animal. Gunshots kept cutting through the air as he went all G's up on the poor dolphins. But soon, he too, went down. Then Piper, then Annabeth. Then I was overrun. I saw Hazel go down. Then Frank went too. Now all that remained was Percy, Thalia, Amber, and Jennifer. Jennifer was running through the ranks of dolphins faster than they could react. Cutting into them. Amber was shooting them with her bow but she was backed up. Then one of the dolphins hit her in the back of the head and she hit the deck with a thud. Raven roared with rage at this and threw one of his dolphin captors off. This kid had clearly outrun the law plenty of times. He knew how to not get arrested. Then he pulled a pair of brass knuckles from his pocket. I couldn't believe it. This kid had everything imaginable in his pockets. He slugged the first dolphin and then went to work on more. But soon he was overrun again. Then Thalia went down. The Jennifer jumped off the railing and was swatted by a dolphin warrior. Finally, Percy was disarmed and taken prisoner.

"Let me go you fucking fish." Raven yelled straining against the dolphins

We were all lined on our knees, side by side. Then we heard footsteps. We all looked up to see Chrysaor himself boarding our ship.

"Ah my demigod friends, it has been a long time hasn't it?" He said from behind his mask

He paced the deck eyeing us all. Then his eyes settled on Raven.

"Ah yes, this must be the son of Artemis, the one Tartarus spoken of," Chrysaor taunted "Funny, I never would've had your mother figure for a whore."

Raven surged forward and managed to break free from his captors. Before Chrysaor could do anything, Raven stuck his fist hard into Chrysaors mask. He put a huge dent in the gold, Right where the gorgon's left tusk was. But before Raven could land another blow, he was hauled back and thrown back to his knees by several more dolphin warriors than before. Raven's knuckles were bleeding from punching the gold, but he didn't seem to care.

"Oh ho ho," Chrysaor laughed "This one has some fire, I like him."

His mask looked even more ugly with a giant dent in it. But I got the feeling that, despite being punched in the face, he was smiling under that mask.

"At least my mother didn't give birth to a half-breed and a horse." Raven spat, his voice seething with rage

"Half-breed eh?" Chrysaor asked "Let me tell you something about yourself boy, you are half-human half-god, therefore considered a half-breed, so think before you speak."

He turned to look at Percy now. Percy was glaring daggers at him. I wished looks could kill, because then we would be out of this mess by now. But Chrysaor didn't drop dead by some miraculous miracle.

"And, Percy Jackson, yes, yes, I remember you," He said "Unfortunately, your little trick from last time won't work, we know the filthy wine god has been captured. And you cannot hope to beat me this time, I am the greatest sword fighter in all the land."

When Percy said nothing, Chrysaor shrugged and began to walk away.

"Take them away, Tartarus wants their souls." He said

Percy and Raven exchanged a quick glance, the Percy looked at Jason, and then Jason looked at me. In an instant I knew what they were all planning. And I was more than willing to do my part.

"Wait." Raven called

Chrysaor turned to look at Raven. A slight curiosity in his eyes.

"Yes?" He asked

"A duel to the death," Raven said "The soul of the first one of the two of us dead."

"And why would I accept that offer?" Chrysaor asked

"If I die, Tartarus will have my soul either way, and that's all he really wants," Raven said "You say you're the best, put your money where your mouth is, or soul, whatever."

Chrysaor seemed to consider this for a moment.

"Swear on the river styx," He said "That you will gladly go to Tartarus when you lose this duel."

"I swear on the river styx that if I lose this duel, I will go to Tartarus," Raven said "I also swear that none of my friends will attack you during the duel."

Chrysaor seemed happy with this agreement. And so he drew his sword. And Raven's lighter was returned to him. As well as his gun and brass knuckles. The dolphin warriors made a circle and we had a front row seat. Amber looked worried as she stared at Raven. A slow realization dawned on me as I glanced quickly from Raven to Amber.

_Shut up Leo._ I told myself _You can wonder about that later__._

Raven flicked his lighter and his sword appeared. Chrysaor looked a bit scared for a moment when he saw the blade. But then he quickly shook it off.

"To the death then." He said raising his sword.

"To the death." Raven agreed

Then they both lunged at each other. I didn't know how long Raven would be able to hold out but I knew he would give us a signal. After all, we had an eye conversation. I just hoped I hadn't completely misread everything. Raven and Chrysaor fought like wild animals. Chrysaor looked shocked when he realized Raven was still alive. Raven kept pushing Chrysaor. And kicking. Raven was starting to fake tiredness. He made his blows much slower, and made his moves much more jerky. Then after about a minute, Raven collapsed. Amber looked horrified as she realized what she thought was about to happen.

"I can't do it." He said from the deck

This was my cue. I made my hand catch fire and the chains on my wrist melted. Then I stuck them into the dolphin holding me. He screamed in pain and I lunged for the dolphin holding our stuff. In the next five seconds, at the same time, Jason and Percy smashed their heads into the dolphins holding them, I took Jason's sword and cut his chains then threw him his blade, he cut Percy's chains and Percy grabbed Riptide. I pulled my hammer from my tool belt. Chrysaor was so stunned that he didn't notice Raven moving until it was too late. Raven jammed his sword blade in the deck of the Argo III and used it to push himself upward. Then he kicked Chrysaor in the chest. The rest of the dolphins were now reacting. But Jason, Percy, and I had that covered. We crossed our weapons in the air. Percy and Jason's swords on crossed then I stuck my hammer through the middle. Thunder, water, and fire raged all around us and dolphins were vaporized instantly.

"NO! YOU SAID THEY WOULDN'T INTERFERE!" Chrysaor yelled as Raven threw him on the ground

There were no more dolphins to protect him and now Frank had handed out everyone's stuff and we were all gathered around Raven. I grimaced as he put his foot on Chrysaors neck and began to press down.

"I didn't say that," He said "I said that they wouldn't attack you during the duel."

I turned away as Chrysaor choked and gasped for breath. But Raven only pressed his foot down even harder. He stared into Chrysaors eyes as he uttered the final words golden boy would ever hear.

"You tell your master," He said "That he had better prepare himself for the son of Artemis."

And then the life drained from Chrysaors body and he went slack and stopped making noises. He picked him up and tossed his body over the side of the railing. We didn't stick around to see what happened to him or his ship, I hit the controls and we hauled ass out of there.

"Don't you ever bet your soul like that again, Lady Artemis would kill us." Jennifer was scolding Raven

"Yeah sure." Raven said halfheartedly

Night was now starting to fall and everyone looked tired. We all walked downstairs and into our cabins for the night. As I laid in my bed, sleep washed over me. And the nightmares came.

Raven:

I won't even describe my nightmares. It would be too much for you. But Tartarus spoke to me, he showed my Tartarus the way monsters see it, they way mortals aren't meant to see it. My mind couldn't disguise a single thing. I almost went insane in a dream. I woke up in a cold sweat. These nightmares had been getting worse the closer we got. I shook uncontrollably as I grabbed my pack of cigarettes and my lighter. I waked quickly to the deck of the Argo III. My 'If you ain't blue then you ain't cru' hoodie felt warm against the cool night air. I sat on the very top of the mast pole and lit a cigarette. I blew the smoke out and watched it immediately whip away in the wind generated by the moving Argo III, just like my sanity. I heard someone climbing the pole behind me.

"Mind if I sit with you?" Amber asked me

"Go ahead." I told her

She sat next to me. I could feel her eyes looking at me with concern.

"What dream this time?" She asked me

"Tartarus, he-he spoke to me, he showed me what Tartarus truly is, with out the mist." I told her

"Oh my gods," She said softly "Raven are you okay?"

"No, I'm the furthest thing from it." I said

She put her hand on my arm.

"Raven, we are your friends, you don't have to bottle it up, you can tell us anything." She said gently

I shook my head. She just didn't get it.

"No, that's not it, I think I'm losing it, I think he is really inside my head." I said quietly

She just sat silently with her hand on my arm. I flicked the cigarette out. In less than half a day, we would be in death valley. The fight was drawing nearer. I wouldn't be able to beat him. I wasn't strong enough.

"Raven?" Amber asked

"Yeah?" I asked her back

"Whats so great about love?" She asked

This caught me off guard slightly. Okay, a lot. Fuck you, don't judge.

"Your mom is the goddess of love and you're asking me?" I asked raising an eyebrow

"And your mom is the goddess of virginity and maidenhood, so I guess this is a bit backwards." She said

She stared at me and I realized that she was still waiting for an answer.

"Uh, I guess because everyone is lonely in this life without love," I said "At least that was Free's momma used to say."

"And when you find love, you're never alone." She said

"Yeah, something like that." I said

We locked eyes for a moment. Then, at the exact same time, we both leaned in. I probably just took away her immortality forever, but i didn't care, and clearly she didn't either. All of this ran through my mind as our lips touched and I felt a small fluttering feeling in my stomach.

**Ha ha, finally, a nigga took a hint. I bet ya'll have been face palming the last like four chapters. I love suspense. So tune in next time for...whatever the hell the next chapter is called. percabeth2death signing off.**


	10. Chapter 10: I broke my immortality

**Hey guys, I have officially settled on a name for the sisters grimm fanfic. The Sisters Grimm: The Guardians I: The war is not over. Pretty chill huh? The first two chapters are out. Sorry about the wait, I haven't been able to get past this writers block. I get all of these major events planned out then have nothing to lead up to them. Shout out to SlayerOfLAdon being the second person to review. My shit's posting up. Going down right up in here cuz. Anyways, don't forget to drop some letters in the comments section, tell me what out with it. Flames and suggestion accepted. I do not own Percy Jackson. (Ramber (Raven+Amber) shippers might really hate me at the end of this chapter).**

Chapter 10: I broke my immortality

Amber:

I had felt my immortality lift as soon as our lips touched. To be honest, a little voice in the back of my head kept reminding me of the reason that I became a hunter. All the boys that hurt me. But there was something different about Raven. I remember I used to hear adults tell kids all the time that they're too young to know what love is. But I am a daughter of Aphrodite, I do know what love is. I felt my immortality leave me. I was a demigod, but no longer a hunter of Artemis. We broke apart after a few minutes and I just stared into his eyes. His beautiful silver eyes.

"Wow." Was all he said

"Yeah," I agreed "Wow."

"I uhh," He started "Thanks."

I giggled. It was a bit funny.

"You're totally clueless aren't you?" I asked him

"To be honest, yeah," He admitted "I'm used to one night stand and never see you again, I don't do love."

"No, me neither," I said leaning into him "But I'd be willing to make an exception."

"Me too." He said

I couldn't see his face. But I knew he was smiling. We sat for a few minutes before he moved.

"I'm going back to bed, I'll see you in the morning." He said

I was a bit disappointed, but I nodded and watched him slide down the mast and walk off. I hoped Lady Artemis would forgive me. Not for breaking my oath, but for kissing her son. She was the goddess of maidenhood. Would she want Raven to stay single forever? I slid down the mast and hurried back to my cabin. As I laid in my bed thinking about what had just happened, I had a thought. If Raven died, then what? I couldn't be a hunter again. I broke my oath. I couldn't just sit around hoping someone else came by. I pushed the thought aside, Raven wouldn't die. He would win this battle and we'd all go home safely. But I kept thinking about that one line in the prophecy _One hero shall fall to the spirit of the pit._ And then the one about enemies returning. Percy had explained Chrysaor to me and what had happened in the Mare Nostrum. Now Tartarus was letting out the people who most hated gods. I could name a few I hoped weren't going to be let out, but I didn't hold my breath.

"Why can't we just live in peace?" I wondered out loud

Sleep washed over me almost seconds later. And for once in my entire life, I had a dreamless sleep.

Raven:

When I finally fell asleep, I had a dream. Of fucking course. But this wasn't a nightmare, I was standing in the throne room of Olympus. The seats were empty. I stared around. No guards, no gods, nobody at all. Olympus was completely abandoned.

"Raven." I heard a voice say from behind me

I turned to see Athena and my mother standing by the doors.

"Mom?" I asked walking over

"Yes, child," She said "Athena has helped me get through to you, even if only in a dream."

"Raven, so good to finally meet you." Athena said eyeing me like an experiment

"Yeah, it seems everyone wants to meet me." I muttered

"Raven, we don't have much time to talk, now Amber." My mother said sternly

"I'll leave you two alone." Athena said

She faded away leaving me alone with my mother. Just great no witnesses.

"I'm sorry, it just happened-" I began but she cut me off

"Raven, I'm not angry, I'm actually happy for you both." She said

"Wait, you are?" I asked

"Yes, Aphrodite is slightly less than pleased, which makes me approve." She said smiling

"Good to know," I said "So is that the only reason you're here?"

"No, Tartarus awaits you, he has called forth the most powerful enemies of the gods," She said "Arachne, Orion, Lycaon, Khione, and Narcissus."

"The nigga thats in love with himself?" I laughed

"Yes, why is this funny?" Mom asked

"Well, how is he a threat when he just stares at himself all day?" I asked

"Tartarus has helped him lift the curse, and now he wants only vengeance against the gods." She said

"Oh." I said

"Raven, you must defeat him." Mom insisted

"I'm afraid," I said "What if I can't?"

"You can, and you will, I have never been more proud to call you my son." She told me

Coming from a mother who I had only known about a month and a half, it wasn't much, but it was all I had.

"I have a request." I found myself saying

"Yes?" My mother asked, raising her eyebrow

"If I die, Amber has no one else, no where else." I said

"And?" Mom asked, again raising her eyebrow

"If I die, I want you to offer her the chance to join the hunt again." I said

"Raven, you're asking something I've never done before." She said

"I know," I told her "But she threw all that away for me, and I want her to have it back if I die."

My mother seemed to consider this for a second. But I wasn't going to let Amber just be forced to go back to Camp Half-Blood just for me. If she didn't want to, I wanted her to have somewhere else.

"Very well." My mother finally said

"Swear it on the river styx." I demanded

"I swear on the river styx that when you die, if Amber is still under the age of twenty one, I will allow her to join the hunt again if she wishes." My mother said

"Well, I just meant if I died fighting Tartarus but that works too." I shrugged

"And one last thing." My mother said as the dream was fading

"What?" I asked

"Don't ever gamble with your soul again."

Suddenly, I sat up in bed. I figured it was morning time. I got up and started getting dressed. My usual clothes, White wife beater, white basketball shorts, pair of jeans (sagging of course), my black Nikes (I had left my Jordans at the camp), my blue Compton snapback, and finally, my blue Crip flag hanging out my back pocket. I was ready for the day, or as ready as you possibly can be. Leo said we would be in Death Valley by today, so I figured that one way or another, by nightfall, the fate of the world would be decided. I walked into the mess hall. All of the others were already gathered around the table.

"It's alive." Leo said in a poor Dr. Frankenstein accent

"Yeah, it is." I told him

I was exhausted. I think everyone could tell it too. Jennifer was eyeing me like she might want to start pouring nectar down my throat. I didn't like that stuff, it just tasted like bitter sweet memories. The chili Money's mom used to make us whenever we would be there. Or even sometimes the fried chicken and dumplings Free's mother would make us. Percy said that it wasn't often a demigod hated ambrosia and nectar, especially because of the taste. But hey, what're you gonna do?

"So how did everyone sleep?" Thalia asked eyeing me

"How do you think?" Frank grumped

The big guy looked exhausted. He had bags under his eyes. He looked as if he hadn't slept in days. None of the others looked any better. In fact, Leo was so tired, that he wasn't even moving that much.

"I take it we've all been having the exact same nightmares?" I guessed

"What have you been having?" Percy asked me

I told them about my recent nightmares. The things I was seeing. The things that Tartarus was showing me. They all sat, open mouthed as I continued. When I had finally told them everything I had seen, Jason spoke up.

"Not even close, I've just been having nightmares about fighting ghosts." Jason said

"Yeah, me too." Frank said

Leo simply nodded and that looked like it took a lot of his energy away.

"I've been having some nightmares about Tartarus, but just flashbacks from when we were there before, nothing like you're describing." Percy said

"I've only been having dreams about fire." Hazel said

This made Frank wince, but it had passed so quickly I was sure that I had just simply imagined it. I didn't know much about Frank, other than the face his mom was killed in the war, the fact that he was Chinese Canadian and could turn into animals. That was about it.

"So, regardless of what we're dreaming," I said "We're all still having nightmares?"

Everyone nodded.

"You think they'll stop once we get done with the quest?" Jennifer asked hopefully

"Doubtful." Jason muttered

Thalia glared at her brother. Captain motherfucking sunshine.

"Well, we entered Death Valley sometime last night." Leo said

This was met with a stony silence. Leo didn't have to say it, we all knew it. It's time. There would be no more sleeping, no more pretending that it was still a long way off.

"So, tonight?" Hazel asked

Leo nodded. The portal that Nico had told us about wouldn't be far from us now. I looked at the small clock that Leo had installed into the wall and realized with a start that it was 5:30. I had slept almost the whole day. I hadn't slept passed noon since first coming to Camp Half-Blood.

"Raven, you want to throw in a few more sessions before we get there?" Percy asked me

I nodded and Percy, Jason, and I left for the training room.

Frank:

Hazel and I decided to go and enjoy the fresh air before we had to go into Tartarus. I was honestly scared, when Hazel had said she dreamed about fire, my fear heightened. Even though Leo had given me a fireproof pouch to hold my stick, I still always felt like I was still vulnerable. Hazel gripped my hand tight as if she knew something was wrong. I knew she was just as scared as I was but she was just trying not to show it. I was afraid that if things went bad, I might not be able to protect her. That was the last thing that I wanted to do, anger the god of the dead for letting his daughter die.

"Frank," I heard Hazel say "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told her

She knew that something was bothering me but she didn't pry. We stood at the edge of the ship watching over the railings as the deserts passed over below us. I saw Percy and Annabeth come up the stairs, they looked like they were having an argument. Thalia, Piper, Jason, and Raven all came up behind them, all appearing to be having the same argument.

"We had better go see what this is about." Hazel sighed

The argument seemed to get louder as we approached.

"-Can't expect me not to." Raven was saying

"Nobody is going to die." Thalia said

"Someone has to." Raven countered

"You can't possibly know that it's the only way to defeat Tartarus?" Percy said

"It is, and if I need to die for it, then I will." Raven said angrily

The rest of the demigods had clearly heard the yelling and had come to investigate.

"You're not going to sacrifice yourself, we're all going to get out of here alive, I don't give a damn what the prophecy says." Piper said

I had never heard Piper curse before, so I figured Raven had her all worked up.

"What are you guys fighting about?" Leo asked

"Raven seems to think that Tartarus can only be defeated by one of us dying," Annabeth said "And he intends for it to be him."

"Raven, you can't seriously believe that." Amber said

"I do." Raven said

"We're not going to let any of our friends die." Jennifer said

"It's the only way, but if I go, Tartarus goes with me." Raven said

"You can't kill him." Jason said exasperated

"I know that, but I can scatter his essence." Raven said, his voice rising

"No one is going to die." Hazel said

"Someone has to, the prophecy said so." Raven said

"Unlike you Raven, we actually try to keep our friends alive." Percy spat

He immediately knew that he had gone too far. The rest of us did too. We stared at him with open mouths.

"Raven-" Amber said gently

She put a hand on his shoulder but it was far too late. Raven snapped and lunged at Percy.

"I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!" He roared

He slammed into Percy and knocked him against the wall. Percy fell and Raven jumped on top of him. Raven punched Percy's face with speed that I couldn't follow with my eyes. Everyone surged forward yelling. Jason and Leo grabbed Raven from behind. I attempted to help but he turned quickly. I felt his fist connect with my jaw. I fell back and saw him throw Leo halfway back down the stairs. Jason attempted to restrain him but Raven slammed his knee into Jason's ribs. Then he turned back to Percy and grabbed him up. Annabeth, Piper, Jennifer, Hazel, Thalia, and Amber were attempting to restrain Raven. I rose and tried to help. He finally let go of Percy and we had him restrained. Annabeth, Leo, and Jason went towards Percy. Raven was pushing against us attempting to get through to Percy. Percy had a bloody nose and a split lip.

"STOP!" Piper ordered

Her charmspeak was so powerful that I wanted to stop everything I was doing. But I held tight and eventually Raven stopped struggling so we let him go.

"Fighting each other isn't going to solve anything." Piper said

Raven continued to glare at Percy. I was glad that Raven's gun was not in his waistband where it usually was. If it was, the son of Poseidon might've had his brains blown all over the wall.

"Oh this is simply delightful." A voice said from behind us

We turned and saw an old woman on the deck of the Argo III. But this old woman was absolutely repulsive. I recognized exactly who she was. Percy had described her to me. Akhyls. She relished in turmoil.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Percy demanded turning on the goddess

"Oh quite simply welcoming you to Tartarus dear." Akhyls shrugged

We all looked around and realized that while Raven and Percy had been fighting, we had crossed into Tartarus. I don't even know how we missed it. The sky had darkened to a red color, a smell of ozone had filled the air. It was exactly as Percy and Annabeth had described it to us.

"The anger between the crew opened up the portal," Akhlys cackled "It is simply delightful."

A sound like thunder rang out and left my ears ringing. Akhlys screamed in pain and vanished in a flash of darkness. We all turned and looked at Raven. He was holding out his gun in the direction that Akhlys had been standing. Apparently I was wrong, he did have his gun on him. He just didn't shoot Percy with it.

"What?" He asked "She was getting annoying."

"Yeah but you don't just blow away a goddess." Jason said

"Actually," Raven said "I can, and I did."

We glanced around. Now that we were here, I realized that we had no idea where the gods were being held. We had thought of everything but that.

"So let's think for a second." Percy said, the fight completely forgotten

"Where are the gods?" Leo asked

"Well, that dream I had the day the hunters came to camp," Raven said "I was in an arena like thing but it was overlooking miles and miles of land all around, so maybe a mountain."

"Yeah," Hazel said "That really narrows it down."

"Maybe there was something in the prophecy." Raven said

"Death and pain follow the raven attempting to use his soul as payment." Jason recited

"Well, I gambled my soul in that duel with golden boy, and I've been plenty haunted by death and pain all they way here." Raven said

"And what about the hosts of death and war?" I asked

"That will come, but not just yet." Percy assured me

"The greatest enemies shall rise," Jennifer said "Raven, that dream you had about your mother?"

"You didn't tell us about a dream from your mom." Piper said

"I only told Jennifer and Annabeth," Raven said "And I didn't mean for them to tell everyone, but my mother told me that several of the god's greatest enemies have been summoned to fight with Tartarus."

Jennifer hung her head and avoided Raven's glare.

"Well, Raven decided the power of the moon was a gift." Amber said

"The prophecy doesn't say anything about where the gods are!" Leo exclaimed

"Well, if I had a guess," Thalia said "I'd say they were right there."

We all turned to where she was pointing. A mountain about a mile and a half or so away. There was a black fog around it, and small purple bolts of lightning kept on blazing in the black clouds. Normally in Tartarus that might be a normal thing, but when you're hunting twelve supernatural beings, it's a dead giveaway.

"No, no way in hell," Percy said "Couldn't it be somewhere like that mountain over there, without all the fog and lightning."

"Nowhere else that they could be." Annabeth said

"So another problem comes and goes," Raven grumbled "Now how do we get there?"

"I don't know, I'd be willing to bet you that it's being guarded like nobody's business." Leo said

"Blow it up?" Jason suggested

"Thank you, Coach Hedge." Piper said rolling her eyes

"Just saying, gods are immortal," Jason argued "We light up the mountain, grab the gods, and leave."

"Yeah, something tells me from all of our previous adventures that won't work out exactly they way you planned it." I pointed out

"Can't hurt to at least have a plan." Percy shrugged

"You want a plan?" Raven asked "Walk in, fuck shit up, leave."

"Good a plan as any." Leo said

He started manning the controls and steered the Argo III towards the mountain. The thunder seemed to get brighter the closer we got. As though something was trying to discourage us. It was working, I was ready to turn around and leave.

_Stop, it's just Tartarus messing with you_ I told myself

"This is so insanely crazy." Annabeth muttered

"I've got you." Percy said taking her hand

"Hold on," Leo yelled from the control pad "It's about to get really bumpy."

No sooner had the words come out of his mouth the ship rocked violently to the side. Raven almost fell over but he grabbed the mast and kept himself upright. I saw Hazel making her way over to the railing to see what had done the damage.

"What is it?" Jennifer asked

"There isn't anything there." She reported

"Well something hit the ship." Jason said

I peeked over the railing and saw that Hazel was right. There wasn't anything to hit. No other ships, or mountains, or any other things that might be lurking in the fog below us. But I still had this feeling like something was watching us.

"Something is out there." I yelled to Leo

"Do you see it?" Thalia asked appearing next to me

"No, but I can feel it." I said

"Whoa fuck!" Raven screamed "What the hell are those things?"

We turned just in time to see a spider the size of a car come over the railing. It knocked Raven to the side. It was followed by five more spiders of equal size. I felt a tremendous amount of force from behind that shoved me to the ground. I heard Annabeth's scream. Then the sound of weapons being drawn. I looked up to see about two dozen spiders attacking the Argo III's crew. Leo was swept off of his feet and bound from head to toe in a webbing. Then I saw several men in bronze armor coming over the railing. Carrying vials of Greek fire. When I saw the men, I vaguely remembered an old legend about a cult that worshiped Tartarus. If he had resurrected his followers, then he could send them after us. I felt the spider's webbing wrapping around me. I saw Raven taking on three spiders. He killed one but the other two were more than he could handle. They lashed out and sent him tumbling down the stairs into the lower decks.

"PERCY!" Annabeth screamed

I turned my head just in time to see Percy flying through the air. And then off the side of the ship. A blast of lightning shook the ship and several spiders were vaporized. Raven had reappeared and was fighting off some more spiders and the strange men.

"Go!" He yelled to Jason "Get Percy!"

Jason nodded and flew off the ship after Percy. I felt my self being dragged away and I saw Hazel thrown next to me. Annbeth, Piper, Amber, Leo, and Thalia had all been subdued. Jennifer was moving as fast as she could but even she couldn't hold them off forever. Raven was surrounded by piles of ash and two of the strange men's bodies. I heard a scream and saw that Jennifer had been taken. She was being dragged towards the rest of us as we were being taken off the side of the ship stuck to a spider.

"Take care of the son of Artemis," One of the men said "We'll take these to the master."

I fought and struggled but they were too strong. The webbing held fast. The spiders jumped down and landed on a pile of rocks about fifty feet below us. Several of the strange men were riding the spiders, about five spiders and fifteen men were still on the ship with Raven. As the spiders scuttled towards the mountain, I watched the ship as bursts of silver light illuminated the blood red sky. The light was our only clue that Raven was still fighting. But suddenly, it all went south. Even from the distance we were at, I heard a scream as one of the men was flung overboard. The Argo III was about a hundred yards away now. But I could still hear the swords clashing together. Then the ship disappeared in a giant ball of Greek fire. Amber screamed from somewhere in front of me. But I knew it was too late, the prophecy line had come true. Raven was dead, slain in the pit.

**Hey guys. I think I really outdid any of my other cliff hangers on this one. I know a lot of you probably hate me right now. I promise this isn't the end of the story, I'm not saying Raven is alive, but the demigods still have a quest to finish remember. Stay tuned my friends, because it's about to get interesting. **


	11. Chapter 11: War and Death join the fight

**Yo yo yo, where it at? Percabeth2death here ya'll. I'm sooooooo sorry for the wait, but I've had some shit to deal with. And I know a lot of you hate me for the last chapter. Oh well, he died a hero's death as he was promised. Anyways, give some reviews, flames and suggestions are accepted. Thanks to everyone who didn't say fuck you and turn away when Raven died. Thank you to the loyal readers who continue to come back and wait for another chapter, we are almost done with this story. It's been fun, it really has. I don't own Percy Jackson, so ladies and gentleman, I give you chapter eleven.**

Chapter 11: War and Death join the fight

Percy:

I was dead. I knew it. I was falling, and falling. Maybe this was my soul leaving my body. My stomach dropped like I was riding a roller coaster. Suddenly, someone caught me. But I guess I weighed more than they thought because we were still falling, just much slower.

"Gods, Percy," Jason said "You weigh a ton."

He managed to slow our fall some more before we thumped into the ground hard. I sat up dazed and panicked. I saw spiders crawling down the side of the Argo III with bundles of web on their back. I had a feeling that I knew what was inside the bundles.

"The others we have to get to the others." I said

Jason nodded and drew his sword. I drew Riptide and glanced up at the ship. I saw flashes of silver light. I knew Raven was up there fighting for his life against the spiders and probably some of those cultist guys. I had fought one of them for a second. They weren't shades, but they weren't human either. They weren't quite zombies, I wasn't entirely sure what they were. They looked and moved and bled like humans. But their eyes were all pure red.

"You fly up to the ship and help Raven, I'll follow the spiders, find me when you're done." I said

Jason nodded and flew towards the ship. I dashed towards the spiders, who were fast disappearing. I gained ground slowly on them. After nearly a minute or so of running, I glanced back at the Argo III, just in time to see and feel a wave of heat. The ship had erupted in green fire and was sinking in the sky. The fire was spreading fast all over the deck, I watched in horror as the Argo III crashed into the ground. The explosion was almost as large as the one caused by the Greek fire. I stopped and stared in horror scanning the skies for Jason. I was relieved to see him flying down towards me. He landed and collapsed in exhaustion. I pulled a small bag of ambrosia squares from my pocket and gave him one. He chewed as we stared at the wreckage from the Argo III, barley a mile away.

"I didn't even get near," Jason said softly "Raven, there's no way he survived that."

I remembered the promise I had made to Raven. I told him I would make sure that if I outlived him, I would make sure he was buried next to his friends. Now, odds are, there wasn't even a body. This hit me like a ton of bricks. I might as well have just stabbed myself with a rusty knife, it always hurt me to be reminded of promises that I could never fulfill.

"Should we search, at least try to find his body?" I asked

"No, we'll have the gods help us get it when we save them," Jason said with fiery determination "Raven died for this quest, and we're not going to fail."

I nodded and helped Jason to his feet. I remembered the spider but they were gone. They left small scuttle marks off in the direction they went. Now that we were on the ground, I couldn't see the mountain with the storm above it.

"We need to follow these track," I told Jason "And get to higher ground."

We walked along keeping an eye on the tracks that the spiders had left. We kept our swords up and stayed as alert as we could. Every now and then, we had to stop and drink some nectar because the air was weakening us. The further along we traveled, the more hopeless our quest seemed. As we approached twenty minutes of walking, we came up on a small cliff. It overlooked a huge valley below us and we could see the spiders and cultists scuttling off into the fog. We could also see the mountain.

"Great, fog, just what we needed." Jason grumbled

My mind started working. I was never great with plans. How could we get through? Suddenly, I had an idea, it was time for me to call upon war and death.

"I have an idea." I told Jason

"I hate your ideas." Jason complained

I had no idea if it would even work. If they could even come to Tartarus. But I had to try, for the sake of humankind. I put cupped my hand to my mouth and whispered one word. (A/N this only makes sense if you've read the son of sobek, I still haven't read the staff of serapis.)

"Carter."

For one terrifying second, nothing happened. Then a small portal opened up next to me and two figures stepped out.

"Fuck!" Jason exclaimed jumping back

I recognized Carter, but the other kid was new. He was tall and dark skinned, just like Carter was. But he wore a black tank top, a leather jacket, blue jeans, and black combat boots. He had a military buzz cut and he looked none too happy to be where he was at.

"Percy, what is this place?" Carter asked me staring around in awe

"Tartarus." I answered, even that word sounded menacing

"This is where Sadie is?" The other kid asked

"Yeah, and all my friends." I said

I told Carter everything that had happened since we last spoke. When I finished he exchanged a quick glance with the other kid.

"So the son of Artemis is dead?" The other kid asked

"Yeah, no way he survived, anyone would've been vaporized, he gave his life for this quest," Jason said as if daring them to challenge the fact "If you don't mind me asking, who are you guys?"

"Well, this is Carter Kane," I said "And this is uhhhhh...What's your name?"

"This is Walt," Carter said "He's Sadie's god/boyfriend."

Walt gave a small chuckle and extended his hand.

"So what are you guys?" Jason asked shaking it "Rogue demigods."

Carter began explaining everything to Jason. His jaw dropped even lower as he went on. When Carter finally finished, Jason's mouth was open so wide, I feared he might break his jaw.

"Percy," He said in awe "You never told anyone?"

"Not a soul." I confirmed

Jason began rubbing his temple. I knew how he felt, that's about how I felt.

"No time for small talk," Carter said "Where is Sadie?"

"There." I told him pointing to the mountain

"Oh, of course, she can't get kidnapped on some tropical island," Carter complained "She has to come here."

"Well, she is pretty stubborn." Walt said

"That mountain, I sense a lot of energy coming from it." Carter noted

I nodded. Carter pulled his Khopesh and his wand out of thin air. Walt simply dug an amulet out of his pocket.

"Well, all twelve Olympians are there," I said "Plus the immortal god of the pit, eight demigods, a large group of cultists and spiders, and according to Raven, Arachne, Khione, Lycaon, Orion, and Narcissus."

Walt whistled appreciatively.

"I think they may have more enemies than us, Carter." He said

"Not a very good thing," Carter grumbled "Percy, how come you have to be so damn infuriating?"

"We've all asked that from time to time." Jason said laughing

"Yeah, they have." I shrugged

We turned and eyed the mountain.

"I really wish Freak was here." Carter said wistfully

"Yeah," Walt agreed "A flying griffon would be nice right about now."

"Wait hold up," Jason said putting his hands up "You have a giant griffon and you didn't bring him."

"We couldn't," Carter protested "He wouldn't come with us."

"Oh, right, silly me." Jason said as we hiked

We walked for what seemed like ever. I was glad that the other three were here with me. I kept on having flashbacks to the very first time that I was in Tartarus. I remembered how Raven had described how he had been shown Tartarus without the mist. A way that should've made any human mind snap. He saw it the way monsters saw it, and was still able to get up and come have breakfast with us. It was almost crazy to think about it.

"How much further?" Walt asked "It seems like the mountain is getting further away with each step we take."

He was right, we were halfway through the fog and the mountain didn't seem to be getting any closer.

"Maybe you could fly us?" I asked Jason

"No," He said shaking his head "I don't have a lot of energy left."

"Yeah, I know that feeling." I said nodding

"Don't we all?" Carter laughed

Walt spit into the grass and kept walking. We followed him and kept our eyes fixated onto the mountain. I couldn't believe that I was back here for a second time. Suddenly, a thought hit me. Bob and Damasen. I had thought about them often since we defeated the giants. But with everything that had been happening over the last few months, I hadn't had much time to think about them. I remembered their sacrifice and I was suddenly overcome with a desire to find and destroy Tartarus. I hadn't seen them defeated but I knew that they most likely had been. I knew what I was thinking was absolutely crazy. I had no idea how we were supposed to fight Tartarus and if we couldn't free the gods, we wouldn't be able to at all.

"Percy," I heard Carter's voice "You alright? You just looked really angry for a second."

"Yeah," I answered "I'm fine."

"Good, because it's time to start walking up the mountain." Walt said

I looked up and saw that he was right, we were now standing at the foot of the mountain. A dirt path stood in front of us snaking upward into the mountain.

Jennifer: (This one is in present view, you'll understand why in a bit)

I begin to come to. I stare around for a moment before becoming aware that I am chained. Both of my wrists have chains on them, as do my ankles. Putting my entire body in an X. I am chained next to Lady Artemis. Then I look around, I see Amber and Piper chained by Aphrodite. Annabeth by Athena, Thalia by Zeus, Frank by Ares, Leo by Hephaestus, Hazel by Hades, and all the other gods chained. I see a blonde girl with a leather jacket and headphones around her neck. I see spiders and those cultists everywhere. This time there is women too. Some of them have paint all over their bodies. I also see wolves, and several people that look to be leaders. I see Lycaon, and A giant spider lady. That must be Arachne, I see a very large man with what look like night vision goggles. Wait no, they're his eyes, now I know who he is. Orion. Then I see a handsome man that I know must be Narcissus.

"Ah, they are awake." Says a voice from the shadows

A man forms straight out of shadows a few feet in front of me. He is tan, wearing solid black Greek armor. I notice he towers at 6'8 and has solid red eyes. Tartarus. I glare at him with hatred. He notices me and smiles.

"Ah, yes, I sense that this one does not like me." He says with a laugh

"I don't think any of them do my lord." One of the cultists says

Tartarus laughs even harder at this. Everyone else joins in.

"You laugh now, Tartarus," Artemis says "But you will not win."

"Oh, you count on your son to come and save you?" Tartarus asks, his laugh deepening "Did you not feel it? Your son is dead, slain just as the prophecy foretold."

"What?" Artemis asks shocked "No, it cannot be, can it?"

She looks over at Thalia, but Thalia closes her eyes with a pained expression and turns away. Or as much as she can when she is chained. Artemis looks around at the rest of us.

"It's true milady," Amber says "He was killed when they raided the ship, the Greek fire went off."

Her voice cracks. I can tell Amber is torn up. I feel bad for her. She told me about her kissing Raven. I saw the two of them around each other. I could tell there was feelings between the two. A crestfallen look came over Artemis's face and Tartarus began to laugh again.

"Yes, your only son dead, very sad isn't it?" Tartarus taunts "It's too bad that Orion won't get to rip him limb from limb himself."

"Yes," Orion agrees "Right in front of his mother, I wanted to tear him apart, strip the very flesh from his body."

Still Artemis says nothing. She simply hangs her head.

"Enough of this," Tartarus yells "Let us spill the blood of our prisoners."

"Excelent," Orion says drawing his hunting knife "Who first?"

"Her, the daughter of Athena," Arachne clicks excitedly "I want to taste her flesh."

"No," Khione says angrily "The daughter of Aphrodite, Piper, I will shatter her into a million pieces."

"Or perhaps the son of Hephaestus." Narcissus suggests glaring at Leo

"No no no," Tartarus says "The nymph."

Without hesitation, several of the cultists move forward and unchain me. In an instant I am on my knees. Tartarus approaches me from behind and I feel the tip of a dagger on my throat.

"Any last words huntress?" Tartarus asks

"Have I served you well Lady?" I ask Artemis

She looks up at me and I see tears forming in her eyes, but she nods.

"With great honor and courage, I thank you for your service my hunter." She says

I close my eyes and wait. I feel the blade make a motion and I feel a pain. But only a slight one, the last thing I hear is Percy's voice.

"NOOOOOO!"

And then there is no more pain.

Jason:

I watched in horror as Tartarus slit Jennifer's throat. I saw the blood began to pool from her neck as Tartarus let go of her and she feel to the ground. Face down in her own blood. All four of us were armed. I had my gladius in my hand and Percy had Riptide. Walt had a bunch of amulets, and Carter had his wand and sword. Everyone turned to look at us when Percy yelled. I knew instantly that we were in trouble because everyone started reaching for their weapons. Tartarus drew a long solid black blade. Orion drew a bow, Arachne clicked her pincers, Khione had a mini blizzard in her hand. Narcissus held his bow, Lycaon had his claws out. All in front of us cultists drew their weapons. Spiders skittered around. Werewolves began getting into position like they were going to pounce.

"We can't kill the wolves we don't have any silver." Percy said

"Shit." I said

I knew I only had one choice so I raised my sword up and yelled. Lightning blasted through the clouds and into the crowd. Some of the spiders vanished, and cultist flew through the air but not enough to make a big difference. The crowd instantly began rearranging their ranks and within seconds had reformed.

"Only one thing to do now." Walt said raising an amulet

"It's been an honor fighting with you." Jason said to Percy

"Dido." Percy replied

"Go down fighting?" Carter asked

I nodded and we all readied our weapons. Then we charged. I instantly lost my friends in the crowd. But that didn't matter, I had to try to stay alive as long as possible, I swept one of the swords aside and stomped on a spider. Larger than average, but not as big as the ones that took us. I risked a quick scan of the crowd. I saw Tartarus standing back and watching. Orion was firing arrows and only just barley missing his marks. Percy was taking on Arachne and several of her spiders, Walt and Carter were standing back to back fending off the wolves. Lycaon egged his pack on.

"Die demigod scum." I heard Khione's voice from my side

I turned just in time to dodge a small spike of ice that whizzed by my ear. It stuck a cultist in throat. He grabbed at it and choked as he sank to his knees.

"If I had a nickle for every time I heard that one." I said

I began dueling with Khione while fending off spiders and cultists at the same time. Arachne had ditched Percy and was now trying to organize her spiders to attack Carter. He had been separated from Walt and was now holding his own. I saw Walt slowly backing up towards where the gods were chained. I realized what he was doing and decided to do the same. I began moving back. Khione seemed to think that I was retreating and a smile spread across her face. As I retreated I saw Percy. He was fighting Tartarus, dead cultists lay all around him. He was surrounded by a gray glow. Ares shouted out encouragements and tips every now and again.

"The blessing of Athena," Tartarus said "Nobel, but futile."

Khione lunged at me, I dodged and swept her feet out from under her. She hit the ground and was knocked out cold. I couldn't believe my luck, but I had to move fast. I swept my sword across her and she exploded into a blizzard. I broke and ran at Tartarus, I had to help Percy. Percy was sweating and he had a cut on his arm. I jumped in front of him and parried Tartarus's blade. He growled as Percy and I attacked together. I felt strength beyond anything I had ever felt. I realized that I had a blue glow around me. The very air around me was electric. I saw Walt attempting to use one of his amulets on Athena but it was having no affect on the chains.

"Jason, go, free the gods, I'll hold him off." Percy said

"I got it." I said

I broke away from the duel and ran towards where everyone was chained. I ran into another cultist, but I cut him down quickly. I approached the nearest god. Hermes.

"How do I break the chains?" I asked him

"I don't know." He told me

I brought my sword down on the chains but the blade simply sparked and bounced off.

"They won't break by force." Hera said from Hermes left

"Yeah, I can see that, thank you." I snapped

Suddenly, I heard Percy cry out.

"PERCY!" Annabeth screamed

I turned just in time to see Tartarus ripping his blade from Percy's stomach.

"NO!" Poseidon roared

Percy sank to the ground and didn't move. For a terrible second, I thought he was dead, but he pushed himself back up and grabbed Riptide. The blessing of Athena still glowing around him.

"This is for Raven you soul eating fuck." Percy growled as he raised his sword

Tartarus seemed shocked that Percy got up. Percy swung his sword but Tartarus swept it aside with ease. He kicked Percy in the stomach and he flew back. He slammed into one of the pillars that Athena was chained to and fell face down at her feet. This time he did not get up, the wound in his stomach was smoking and sizzling. Tartarus began to walk towards Percy, he was going to finish him off.

"NOOOO!" I yelled

I raised my sword and lightning arced towards him. It hit Tartarus in his back and he stumbled. He turned towards me, his red eyes glowing with anger.

"You will pay for that you insolent boy." He growled

I charged him with my sword raised. I noticed that the crowd of cultists and spiders was beginning to thin out. The werewolves were still going, but the rest had been killed. None of the leaders except Khione had been defeated. I saw Walt dueling Narcissus and Orion, along with several cultists and spiders. Then I saw Carter against Arachne and Lycaon and some of her spiders. the werewolves were feasting on the bodies of the fallen. They had completely lost interest. I crossed blades with Tartarus and we began dueling again. I dodged and ducked. Swiping, slashing, and stabbing. He blocked all of my attacks and tried to get inside my block. But I kept him out. He was unlike any opponent I had ever faced, and I've fought a titan. He was fast and powerful at the same time, his armor just deflected most of my blows if I even got inside his block. Which didn't happen often.

"You are very powerful son of Jupiter," Tartarus said "But you are not powerful enough."

He swept my sword from my hand and elbowed me in the face. I was knocked backwards and fell at my father's feet. My sword lay ten feet away and there was no way that I was going to be able to reach it. Tartarus stepped over me and raised his sword.

"Now Zeus, watch your son die at my hands." He said triumphantly

Right before he struck, A silver light flashed and, with the speed of a bullet, the light hit Tartarus in the back of the head. He whirled around. Standing on the end of the path, a blue bandana tied around his face, Ruger 45 in his hand, white wife beater, sagging jeans around basketball shorts, Compton hat and all, was Raven.

"Who thinks they can stand against the son of Artemis?" His challenged raising his gun.

**Hey guys, I just thought that I'd let ya'll know, that I have officially read the staff of serapis. Right here on , now how about that. Anyways, sorry about the wait, like I said i had a lot of shit going down. Thanks for sticking by me. Leave some reviews and let me know how I did. Flames and suggestions are both accepted. Thanks, percabeth2death out ya'll.**


	12. Chapter 12: Mist, wolves, and Cripz

**Whats up guys? I told you to just wait. And guess what, Raven is alive, he's straight invincible. And now he has come, they will be sorry. Really not much to say, drop some reviews. Flames and suggestions are accepted. I don't own Percy Jackson. And we're off.**

Chapter 12: Mist, wolves, and Cripz

Amber:

When I heard his voice, it was like I was rebuilt. I couldn't believe it. He wasn't dead, that had to be him, no one else would walk right into certain death with a cocky attitude the way he did. And that is exactly why I love him. But then, what happened next almost destroyed me again. Notice that I said almost. Raven faded. He vanished into a green mist and scattered. For a moment, I was certain that I had simply just imagined him. But everyone else looked confused.

"Where are you son of Artemis?" Orion yelled

I saw that the two boys Jason and Percy had shown up with had regrouped with Jason. Jason had recovered his sword and was tending to Percy while everyone was distracted. He had Percy propped against the pillar and was feeding him ambrosia. Percy was awake but he looked week and in pain. He was almost as pale as Nico.

"I'm wherever you least expect me." Raven's voice thundered throughout the mountain

"Your tricks of the mist will not work, come out and face death like a man." Lycaon yelled

The wolves howled in response. Then a lone wolf stepped out onto the path where Raven had stood. It had dark brown fur and even from where I was I could see the brilliant silver eyes. It had a scar running through it's left eye and a small black spot of fur on the shape of a Raven. I didn't see the FJC scar but maybe it was just hidden in the fur. It was only regular size for a wolf but it radiated power. I knew it was Raven instantly. I would know him no matter what shape that he took. I saw Lady Artemis's eyes light up with hope at the sight of her son.

"Be careful what you wish for mutt," Raven's voice came again "You just might get it."

The wolf's mouth had not moved but Raven's voice echoed clearly around the mountain.

"You are dead," Arachne hissed "The ship blew up."

"You are such a weak minded insect," Raven laughed at the spider "You want things so badly, no effort is required to make you see it."

"The mist," Tartarus growled "Impressive, but I'm afraid you're out of tricks."

"Are you sure?" Raven taunted "Because I still have a few that my mother doesn't even know about."

The wolf shifted from foot to foot and flicked his tail.

"I have walked through the mansion of night with my eyes open," He declared "You don't scare me."

"Impossible." One of the cultists said

Rather than responding, Raven moved along the side until he stood next to Jennifer's body. He pawed it cautiously before his wolf eyes flared with anger.

"You will pay for this, all of you." He said, baring his fangs

Raven let out a piercing howl that sent out a wave of fear. I wanted to hide from him, but I knew that he wouldn't hurt me. He loves me. Without warning, he pounced, landing on a cultist and shredded his throat out. Suddenly, enemies surged forward. Raven moved around pouncing and swiping, Jason, Percy, and the other two boys were back on their feet. One of the boys was attacking Tartarus with a boomerang like object and a sword in the shape of a question mark. The other was using amulets to keep the werewolves off of Raven. Percy and Jason fought spiders and cultists.

"What do you see in him?" My mother's voice said from beside me

She was chained in the same position that I was, Left hand and ankle chained to a pillar and right hand and ankle to another. I glared at her as best I could.

"He may have had a bad past but he's a good person," I snapped "Why do you hate him?"

"Simple, he is a child of Artemis." Aphrodite said

"I don't care who he is or what he's done," I told her "I love him and he loves me."

"Oh you really think that?" She said

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demanded

"He is a child of Artemis, he doesn't love you," My mother said "He is nothing but a two bit gang banger, he will turn his back on you as soon as he get's bored."

"No he won't." I countered, but now I wasn't so certain

"Yes he would, you have so much to learn about love my child." She said

"If I may-" Hephaestus started

"Shut up!" My mother and I both snapped

"Raven wouldn't do that, you may control love, but you don't control me." I said

She didn't respond so I went back to watching the fight. Which wasn't going well. Raven had turned back into human form and was fight werewolves. Since there was silver on his blade, he was the only one that could kill them. He swept out and killed three of them. Lycaon stood back and tried to find an opening. Everyone was at least holding their own. Werewolves tried staying away from Raven but he was moving too fast. Raven lashed out and killed another five. Lycaon's pack was dwindling fast. Dark puddles of dissolved were wolves lie among the bodies of cultists and ashes from spiders. Suddenly the five boys were backed up with enemies all in front of them.

"It's over," Lycaon said, his pack completely gone "You will die."

"You barley have any cultists left, you have like two dozen spiders left and no werewolves, and we're fucked?" Raven said rolling his eyes

"Stop fighting son of Artemis, join me or die." Tartarus said

"You got me fucked up if you think that's gonna happen." Raven spat with anger

"Very well," Tartarus sighed "Orion, kill him."

But in that moment, Raven raised his sword. And a silver light glowed from his blade.

"My fallen brothers, come forth, fight alongside me once again." He said

Suddenly a crack split in the ground and widened to almost five feet, separating the five boys from the small army of cultists, spiders, and really angry enemies of the gods. Then hands began to appear, pulling themselves from the hole. Boys who were sagging their pants, wearing blue snapbacks, and blue bandannas. Some of the bandannas were tied around their faces, others around their hats, come of the bandannas were being used as hats and just tied around their heads, and some were just hanging out of people's pockets. I saw tattoos and scars just like Raven's, and I knew what I was looking at. Fallen Crips. There was about three or four dozen of them. They looked just like the cultists, not quite human but not really shades. Except their eyes were normal. They all had baseball bats, knives, brass knuckles, or guns. Some had AK-47, Glocks, shotguns, handguns, sub machine guns. I even saw a machete

"Yeah nigga, FJC for life." Said a voice from the crowd

I recognized it before I even saw the owner. It sounded Hispanic. Then the owner stepped from the crowd. It was Money, I recognized him from the memories that we had seen during the trial.

"You look surprised to see me _ese_." He said to Raven

A grin broke across Raven's face as he reached his hand out. He and Money did the same handshake I had seen them do in that car. (If you don't remember go back and read)

"Glad to see you bro." Raven said

"Who the fuck need to get capped?" Someone else said

Free stepped from the crowd and Raven's grin widened. They clapped hands together and Free pulled a gun from his waistband.

"Niggas about to meet my Tec," He yelled turning to the small army across the crevice "Ya'll look like some bitches."

There was a cheer from the crowd of Crips and they waved their weapons in the air.

"What is this?" Tartarus demanded

"As the son of Artemis, I have the ability to call upon those who call me brother." Raven said

"Nigga, all these years, you more than brother homie." Someone said stepping from the crowd

He was three times the size of Raven, he had dark skin and dreadlocks. He had no shirt and the words Flat Junction were tattooed in blue above his belly button. Then below his belly button was one single word written in blue. Cripz. He held and AK-47 in his hand and had on a black hat that read 1017 Glo Gang on it. I vaguely recognized it as some sort of rap group.

"What's happening Tiger?" Raven said clapping hands with the kid

"Same shit, different day." Tiger answered

The gap had closed and one of the cultists chose this moment to attack. He ran at Tiger and raised his sword but Tiger caught him and threw him back.

"Aw hell nah," One of the Crips said "You see that nigga step on his J's."

"Oh damn did he?" Tiger asked, looking at his shoes

"Yeah, see that scuff right there?" Raven asked pointing at the shoe

"Nigga, Imma fuck this bitch ass mothafucka up." Tiger said, leveling his AK

He pulled the trigger and let a few shots fly, the cultist jerked a few times before going still.

"Bitch ass nigga, scuff my J's." Tiger said

"Hell, yeah." Money said approvingly

And with that, the Crips let forward one last whoop, and charged.

Raven:

Damn, it was just like old times. Gunshots tore through the air. Scream rang out as Crips overran the cultists, stomped out spiders, and in other words fucked shit up. Me and Money threw down a cultist and stomped on his head. Free let clip after clip fly into the cultists and they kept dropping, but they also kept on coming. We couldn't hold forever. I saw Tiger taking on three of the cultists. I saw three Crips with baseball bats smashing spiders. I saw two more, one with brass knuckles the other with a blade. The one with brass knuckles deck a cultist in the face and as he spun around, the one with the blade stabbed him. A few Crips were already dead, but the cultists weren't strong enough to overtake them. It took six or seven cultists and or spiders to a Crip to actually kill one. I saw some girls with tattoos identifying them as Boss Lady Crips stomping out spiders. Arachne killed two Crips in one shot, but then she got beat back by a group with baseball bats. I took the opportunity to take out Narcissus.

"Will you be alright for a few minutes without me?" I asked Money

"It's chaos out here, I love it." He replied

That might not have been an answer to some people, but I had practically grown up with Money, so I knew he was telling me yeah. I dashed off towards Narcissus and found him soon. He had a few dead Crips lying around him but he wasn't looking very threatening. The first thing I had learned as a Crip was when you were in a rumble like this, work your way up. Eliminate the weaker ones first. So, naturally, Narcissus. Enough said.

"Son of Artemis, I'm glad to have the chance to kill you." Was all he said as I approached with my sword out

He drew two hunting knives and lunged. I didn't even have time to check up on Percy or Jason or the other two guys. I swung my blade and deflected his knives. I was trying to get inside his block but this guy was fast. He pushed be back over towards where my mother was chained. She watched with fearful eyes as our blades crossed in the air. Each strike drawing to kill. Finally he back up and I didn't advance. I stared him in the eyes. I risked a quick glance to my side and saw that more cultists had arrived. Tartarus had still not joined the fight, neither had Orion, but I saw that Lycaon had been defeated. Percy was now wielding Riptide and a silver knife that looked like the one my mother had once used.

"You are skilled son of Artemis, more skilled than I had anticipated." He said with a grudging approval

"Yeah, I get that one a lot." I told him

A cultist broke away and ran towards me. I pulled my gun from my waistband and shot him in the head at about three or four feet away. He twisted and dropped to the ground. Narcissus took this moment to attack and he lunged. I deflected with my sword. He used his shorter blades to his advantage and tried getting inside my guard. I threw my foot out but he stepped back and slashed down. I heard the fabric tear as he cut through my jeans and cut my leg. I pulled back and felt the blood running down my leg. I limped backwards trying to put some distance between us. He advanced as he licked my blood off of his blade.

"Very good child of moon." He said

"You fucking creep." I spat

He had pushed me back to where Aphrodite was chained. She watched with satisfaction as Narcissus advanced. I realized that she wanted me dead, she wanted to watch Narcissus kill me. For some reason, I became angry. I wanted to show her that she couldn't get everything she wanted just because she was pretty. But these thoughts pulled me from reality for a second. Which was a second too long. Narcissus jumped on me and pinned me. He was stronger than he looked. He stuck both of his blades to my throat. My sword was knocked from my hand. He put his knee down on the hand with my gun in it so that I couldn't move it. I only had one free hand and it was just short of my sword.

"Any last words, son of Artemis?" He asked me

Aphrodite had a small smile as she watched me. My anger flared again, so I spat in his face.

"Very well, I will make your end painful." He growled

He raised his blade. In that moment, everything seemed to slow down. And my senses sharpened. I saw a chunk of stone about the size of a football out of the corner of my eye. I realized that I could reach it. I looked to my side and met Amber's eyes. Then I was filled with a sudden desire to live. I reached out and grasped the stone. And just as Narcissus brought the knife down, I slammed the stone into the side of his head. As he rolled to the side, I rolled with him. I came up on top of him and stuck my hand on his throat. He started gasping for air. Rage overtook me as I stared into his eyes. I raised the rock and brought it down on his face. Blood squirted from his nose. He gasped in pain as I brought the stone on his face again. I did it again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again.

"Raven!" I heard Amber scream at me, she sounded so far away "Stop!"

She sounded terrified. I realized that Narcissus was dead. Blood was pooling around his head, I had crushed his skull with the rock. Maybe somewhere around the third time. I looked up at Amber and I saw that she was deathly afraid of me. She stared at me with concern. I saw my mother out of the corner of my eye. She staring at me with wide eyes. No matter what I had done or been through, she never would have thought that I would lose control like that. Hell, I hadn't even thought I could lose control like that.

"Please, stop." Amber begged me

"Ah let the kid have a little fun." Ares said

"Shut up." My mother said

I felt someone's hand grab my arm. I didn't know if it was friend or foe, but I did nothing about it.

"You got him bro." I heard Free's voice from beside me

He pulled me to my feet and I stared into Narcissus lifeless eyes. I knew he was just a spirit, but still, it was gruesome.

"Come on dude, don't zone out one me." Free said

I snapped up. And turned away. There was dead Crips laying everywhere. I wasn't sure where they went when they died. Probably back to wherever they had been before. I saw Tiger and Jason fighting Tartarus. Percy, Money, and three other Crips were fighting Arachne. I saw a guy I recognized as someone we used to call Trigger Finger fighting off cultists with a baseball bat. Orion was trying to fight off Crips but he was being overtaken. I saw one of the bigger guys grab him and throw him to the side. As he landed he did a back roll and came up with a throwing knife in his hand. He flicked it and it sailed straight into one of the younger kid's back.

"Let's go." I told Free

I grabbed my sword and gun and dashed into the crowd. I slashed a spider and made my way towards Arachne. She saw me before I even got close. She swept her leg out and sent Percy flying through the air. He hit the ground hard. He staggered to his feet but then collapsed again. I dug out a bag of ambrosia from my pocket and tossed it to Free.

"Give this to Percy, I'll take the spider, go." I told him

He nodded and ran to Percy. Arachne advanced towards me. Money backed up next to me. He had picked up and AK-47 somewhere and was blasting at Arachne. I raised my gun and we backed up as we poured rounds into her. Ichor was running from all over her body, but she wasn't slowing down.

"Shit, these straps ain't doing shit." Money yelled

"You see that girl with grey eyes?" I asked him

"Which one, the younger one or the older one." He asked panicked

"Older one, get over there and see if you can't break those chains." I told him tossing him a blade from a fallen Crip

He nodded and ran. I had to keep Arachne focused on me so that Money could free Athena. If he could, maybe she could help us. I fired one last shot at her. It hit but did nothing. My clip was empty, the only one I had left was regular bullets. I shoved the gun back into my waistband. Crips and Cultists lay around me. Battle was still raging around me. I saw Tiger and Jason still holding their own against Tartarus. I raised my blade as Arachne advanced to me.

"Back off bug." I spat

My hand blazed with silver light. She seemed wary of it, but she still advanced.

"You cannot kill me," She hissed "I will strip your flesh from you."

"Try me." I spat

She clicked her pincers and lunged for me. I swung my blade in a wide arc but she backed up. She snapped it me and struck me in the arm. My entire sword arm went numb.

"FUCK!" I screamed grabbing my arm

My wife beater was soaked in blood. The blood had stopped flowing from my leg. But my arm hurt, it was killing me. I grasped my arm and held my sword as tight as I could. I stuck it out in an attempt to ward her off but she snapped out and flung my sword away. It sailed off the side of the mountain. I knew it would come back, but for now I was fucked. Silver light blazed into both of my hands and I shot two beams. They both hit dead center but all Arachne did was hiss in anger.

"Money, got those chains broken?" I yelled not taking my eyes off the spider

"No." He answered back

"Hurry the fuck up." I yelled back

"You want to come try this shit, nigga?" He screamed at me

I whipped around and dashed towards him. He seemed to realize what I was doing at the last second. And moved out of the way. I heard gunshots as he started shooting at Arachne. I gripped the chain on Athena's left wrist.

"Be careful, Raven," She warned "These are magic."

"Yeah, didn't already figure that out." I grumbled

I concentrated and suddenly, silver light blazed from my hand. I felt something in the chain resisting, like a presence. Then I remembered something from the prophecy. Chains broken only if you can slay the night. Nyx. She made these chains. I used all my willpower. Forced my will on the chains. Demanded them to break. The chain shattered and black shards fell to the floor. Athena pulled her left hand and smiled.

"Yes, good, we know how to destroy them now." Athena said excitedly

"Son, look out!" My mother yelled at me

But it was too late. I felt a stinging pain in my gut. Where the Manticore had pierced me. The wound had finally healed and turned into a scar. But something had just reopened it. I looked down and saw a jet black blade sticking out of my stomach. I screamed in pain as my vision tunneled. This was worse than anything I had ever felt. Ten times as bad as the worst pain that I could think of. The pain multiplied as the blade was ripped from my stomach.

"NOOOO!" Amber screamed

I fell to the ground. I turned around and fell on my back. I tried to scramble to my feet but Tartarus put his foot to my chest and forced me back down.

"Die, son of Artemis." He said hissed raising his sword

**Thanks for coming. and once again we piss off the masses and end it right at another death moment. Thanks for tuning in, don't forget to hit that review shit, and flames and suggestions are accepted. Because I like to hear the haters, and I wan't to know what ya'll would like to see. Also, I'm thinking about making a sequel to this. Let me know if you'd like to see that. Till next time percabeth2death.**


End file.
